The large sample sizes of the Generations anfd Gender Survey allow researchers to understand how various minority groups might differ in some of their behaviour from the rest of the population. One such group that is well covered and relevant to the work of the GGP is same-sex couples. With the increasing prevelance of same sex marriage across the world, it is important for both social scientists and policy makers to understand how these couples compare to other couples. Below we see the proportion of couples that divide various household tasks equally, broken down by sexual orientation of the couple. What is clear is that same-sex couples tend to be more egalitarian in the distribution of tasks compared to heterosexual couples. The difference does however differ depending on the task.
Figure 1: The percentage of couples who share specific household tasks equally by sexuality
Bauer, G. (2016). Gender Roles, Comparative Advantages and the Life Course: The Division of Domestic Labor in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples. European Journal of Population, 32(1), 99-128. Note: The empirical analysis is based upon the Generations and Gender Survey from Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Australia.
The large sample sizes of the Generations anfd Gender Survey allow researchers to understand how various minority groups might differ in some of their behaviour from the rest of the population. One such group that is well covered and relevant to the work of the GGP is same-sex couples. With the increasing prevelance of same sex marriage across the world, it is important for both social scientists and policy makers to understand how these couples compare to other couples. Below we see the proportion of couples that divide various household tasks equally, broken down by sexual orientation of the couple. What is clear is that same-sex couples tend to be more egalitarian in the distribution of tasks compared to heterosexual couples. The difference does however differ depending on the task.
Figure 1: The percentage of couples who share specific household tasks equally by sexuality
Bauer, G. (2016). Gender Roles, Comparative Advantages and the Life Course: The Division of Domestic Labor in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples. European Journal of Population, 32(1), 99-128. Note: The empirical analysis is based upon the Generations and Gender Survey from Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Australia.
The Generations and Gender Programme provides contextual data for use alongside its survey data. These are held in the Contextual Database (CDB) and the Contextual Data Collection (CDC). The CDB provides 74 indicators for more than 60 countries. Beyond providing data that facilitate multilevel modelling, the CDB also represents a useful resource for alternative approaches that aim to account for contextual conditions, or for macro-level investigations: e.g., fixed-effects models, geoadditive and geostatistical approaches, fuzzy-set analyses, (agent-based) simulations, and time-series analyses. The CDC provides data on the countries covered by the GGS including approximately 253 indicators . Among these indicators are around 127 national-level time series, 67 sub-national regional variables, and 59 policy histories that contain standardised descriptions of policy reforms. The information dates back to the 1970s so that it can be used in combination with the life histories collected in the GGS. This data is freely available and ready for download via the GGP website.
The GGP Contextual Database Interface
The GGP has very detailed information about individuals life histories and how their circumstances have changed over time. Below we have the life courses of 21,784 women aged 50-60 in 14 countries and how their family status has changed since they were 20 years old. Each line in the graph represents an individual’s life course and their change in status over a 30 year period. Some individuals, like those at the top of the graph, never have a partner and never have a child. Others have children with a partner but then seperate with them and raise the children alone. This image represents over 60,000 years in the life’s of our participants and researchers can then use the rich detail of this picture to examine the causes and consequences of our life stories and find patterns in this tapestry.
Family status of Women between the ages of 20-50 in 14 European Countries
When Dads help with the childcare it can free up Mums to return to the labour market and continue their careers. However, analysis using GGP data shows that it’s also important to see what types of tasks Dads are helping out with. ‘Time Structured’ tasks like dressing and feeding children are more closely associated with a Mum’s return to work than more ‘Time Flexible’ tasks such a playing with the children or helping them with homework. Enabling fathers to be involved in such ‘Time Structured’ tasks is difficult to achieve however as they often clash with their own work schedule. This suggests that increasing father’s involvement in ‘Time Structured’ tasks may require bold policy innovations that help change well established practices. The analysis looked at fathers from 17 countries but was unable to find current policy arrangements or labour market indicators that supported father’s engagement in such tasks.
Proportion of fathers with children aged 0-2 participating at least equally in ‘Time Structured’ and ‘Time Flexible’ Childcare tasks in 17 Countries
Couples living together before marriage has become increasingly common over the past few decades. This raises the question of whether marriages preceded by cohabitation are more or less stable and enduring as marriages in which the couple have not previously lived together. Some argue that cohabitation lessens people’s commitment to partnership and thus increases their risk of divorce, while others believe that a cohabitation phase before marriage (as a trial marriage) would strengthen marital stability. In the United States, data suggest that the effect of cohabitation on marriage is at best neutral; however, in European countries, the effect of cohabitation on marital stability varies markedly, according to a study covering the last decade of the twentieth century (Liefbroer and Dourleijn, 2006). Figure 1 indicates just how much union stability varies across countries for both those who have cohabited prior to marriage and those who have not. The GGS enables us to examine whether this pattern has changed over time or differs across groups within society.
Mean duration in years of heterosexual 21-79 year old individuals first union which was a cohabiting relationship followed by marriage or a marriage not preceded by cohabitation
