Beyond Division: An Analysis of Housework Trajectories and Fertility in the United Kingdom

Gioele Magagnoli , Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Recent decades have seen growing recognition of gender equality’s role in explaining fertility dynamics. Consequently, the relationship between the division of unpaid work and fertility has attracted considerable scholarly attention. However, evidence remains inconsistent, likely due to measurement discrepancies and the static approach of many studies. This paper adopts a life-course perspective to investigate the relationship between UK couples’ unpaid work trajectories and fertility dynamics using data from the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society. Applying Sequence History Analysis (SHA), we map domestic pathways beginning at cohabitation (for parity 0) and first birth (for parity 1). These trajectories are then linked to the risk of first and second childbirth, respectively, using discrete-time event-history models. Findings reveal that while most childless couples follow traditional trajectories, a notable proportion adopt egalitarian or non-traditional arrangements, and that often, domestic work division evolves over time. Nevertheless, the transition to parenthood remains a primary trigger for traditionalization. Regarding fertility, stable egalitarian and moderately unequal trajectories are positively associated with first and second births, whereas radically unequal trajectories and unstable pathways characterized by arrangement changes exhibit a negative relationship. However, as an exception, couples transitioning from egalitarian to moderately traditional arrangements maintain second-birth fertility levels comparable to stable couples, which suggests that “traditionalization” after the first child may function as a normalized adjustment to parenthood rather than a disruptive renegotiation that hinders further family expansion.

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 Presented in Session 67. Fertility and Gender Roles