Social Class Gaps in Gendered Parenting Practices in the UK and in France

Alexandra Sheridan , INED
Nicole Hiekel, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Lidia Panico, CRIS, Sciences Po
Anne Solaz, INED

Whether parents raise boys and girls differently based on social class is underexplored in the literature. This paper asks to what extent gender differences in parenting practices and expectations in early childhood vary by social class. We implement linear regression analyses on two high-quality, large, nationally representative cohort studies, the Millennium Cohort Study for the UK, and the French Longitudinal Study of Children for France. Overall, we find few differences across social class in the gender gaps in parenting expectations and in children's access to family resources. Furthermore, mothers do more housework and childcare work than fathers irrespective of raising a boy or a girl, and this is true across social class. These findings suggest that while class shapes overall parenting, gendered patterns of parenting remain broadly consistent across social strata.

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 Presented in Session P3. Families, Fertility, and the Life Course 3