When Beliefs Meet Reality: Gender Attitudes, Division of Unpaid Work, and Satisfaction among Italian Couples

Marina Zannella , Istat
Manuela Michelini, ISTAT
Tania Cappadozzi, ISTAT

This study investigates how gender-role attitudes influence the division of unpaid domestic and care work and how these dynamics relate to individual satisfaction with its division among Italian couples. It addresses two main questions: (1) do more egalitarian attitudinal profiles correspond to more balanced divisions of housework and childcare? and (2) are individuals in egalitarian couples more satisfied with these arrangements, or do higher expectations generate new forms of tension? Drawing on data from the forthcoming 2023 Italian Time Use Survey (ISTAT), the study develops a couple-level typology of gender attitudes based on responses to seven items on family and work roles. By linking attitudinal orientations, behavioural outcomes (i.e., observed patterns of housework and care), and satisfaction with the division of unpaid work, regression analyses explore the association between partners’ gender attitudes alignment or mismatch and perceived fairness and well-being within couples.

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 Presented in Session 71. Domestic Labour and Partnership Satisfaction