Our starting point is the large gender gap in time spent directly caring for children in economically developed and relatively gender egalitarian societies like Australia. Things aren't what they were 50 years ago. Mothers, particularly of younger children, are more likely to do paid work than they were in the past. But it's still quite rare for men to be the primary carer of their children. Mothers, on average, still do the bulk of the childcare and the domestic labour, while fathers still tend towards the breadwinner role. In this episode, we go beyond this familiar fact to look at how this still traditional division of labour shakes out in terms of rewards, responsibilities and risks: from the mental load of keeping a family running, unappealing household chores and the more joyful moments of parenting, to the economic impacts for mothers.
Our guests in this episode are Dr Carla Pascoe Leahy, Professor Leah Ruppanner and Professor Miranda Stewart.
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