Determinants of models of earning and caring: analysis using the 2005 Canadian general social survey on time use

Zenaida R. Ravanera, University of Western Ontario
Roderic Beaujot, University of Western Ontario
Jianye Liu, Lakehead University

This paper examines possible determinants of family models in the earning and caring activities of Canadian families. Building on typologies of earning and caring, we treat family models as our dependent variable, seeking to determine the relative importance of selected family, economic, and cultural variables. To what degree are these variables relevant in predicting whether a given couple might be classified as traditional or more egalitarian in its division of paid and unpaid work? We describe how the division of work between couples might be affected by such variables as marital, parental and employment status. Using the 2005 Canadian General Social Survey on time use, we consider the effect of economic variables, along with factors associated with cultural questions. The analysis of the relative predominance of the complementary-traditional and women’s double burden arrangements (which, together, is referred to in the paper as augmented complementary-traditional) shows that life course questions as well as structural and cultural considerations are relevant. The presence of children is a major determinant, as men with children under five, and women with children under 18, are more likely to be in the augmented complementary traditional arrangements, and men with children aged 5-18, along with women with no children under 18, are more likely to be in the other arrangements. Men with higher personal and relative resources are also more likely to be in augmented complementary traditional, as are men from rural areas, while men with no religion are more likely to be in the other models. Conversely, women with higher personal and relative resources are less likely to be in augmented complementary traditional, and older women are more likely to be in these traditional arrangements.