(CSF4) Families and Intimate Relations

This session explores division of labour within families, the struggles faced by caregivers, and trends in fertility intentions. Tags: Equality and Inequality, Parenting And Families, Work And Professions

Organizer: Amber Gazso, University of the Fraser Valley; Chair: Amber Gazso, University of the Fraser Valley

Presentations

Yueming Ouyang, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Housework or Money? What do Chinese couple want in a marriage?

As societal norms shift, the expectations of couples regarding their partners income and division of household chores also change. These evolving expectations can have an impact on marital satisfaction. To clarify the relationship between marital satisfaction and contribution to spouses economic and household chores, data from the Chinese Family Panel Survey (CFPS) in 2014, 2018, and 2020 was analyzed to track the marital satisfaction of Chinese couples over a span of six years. Firstly, this paper utilizes descriptive statistics to observe the levels of marital satisfaction, economic contribution satisfaction, and housework contribution satisfaction among Chinese couples over a six-year period. In the second section, the study employs the multiple linear regression method to investigate the impact of Chinese couples satisfaction with their spouses housework and economic contributions on their overall marital satisfaction. Lastly, the paper utilizes the mediation effect test to determine the validity of the chain mediation effect depicted in the figure (https://postimg.cc/dLnz51WL).

Leah Houseman, University of Saskatchewan

Fertility Intentions and Disability in Canada: Increased barriers, similar goals?

The decision to have a child is among the most significant and life-trajectory altering choices a person will make; however, those with physical or mental disabilities face additional burdens that may affect their economic, emotional, or biological ability to have a child. Nonetheless, women with disabilities express similar desires to have children as those without disabilities, but their intentions and certainty of achieving their fertility intentions are lower. According to Statistics Canada, a significant portion of childbearing-aged Canadians report living with at least one disability. According to Statistics Canada, this number was around 14.6% of those aged 15-44 in 2017 and as high as 23% as of 2021. The growing body of work addressing the barriers to child-having for those with disabilities mainly consists of exploratory qualitative work or only considers the American or European contexts, leaving a dearth of research addressing the intersection of disability and fertility intentions in the Canadian context. Without a clear understanding of the fertility intentions of disabled Canadians, a significant portion of the population’s reproductive healthcare needs will continue to be disregarded, and future policy decisions aimed at removing the barriers to parenthood will be ill-informed. Supporting all people in achieving their fertility desires will not only increase individual autonomy and fulfillment, but will also increase Canada’s fertility rate, which is at an all-time low of 1.33 children per woman, which many argue is threatening our social safety net. This paper asks three questions: i) how do the fertility intentions of the disabled population compare to the non-disabled population; ii) do fertility intentions differ by socio-demographic characteristics like age, sex, and socio-economic status or by severity and type of disability; and iii) are any of these factors more or less important for the disabled population than the non-disabled population? This research will consider the combination of increased individual autonomy produced by the second demographic transition and the theory of planned behaviour to explore how one’s social location influences one’s fertility intentions and whether those with mental or physical disabilities experience greater barriers to realizing their fertility intentions. Preliminary results indicate that Canadians living with a disability report intending to have nearly the same number of children compared to those without a disability, varying based on social location, suggesting that their family formation goals are similar, while the barriers to achieving these goals are often greater. Ultimately, this project will test the hypothesis that the fertility intentions and realization confidence of disabled persons are moderated by one’s social location to a greater degree than the non-disabled population. This study will utilize the 2017 General Social Survey, a large-scale, nationally representative survey that collected information on disability and fertility intentions, and a combination of descriptive statistics and Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses with interaction terms to demonstrate the socio-demographic characteristics of the fertility intentions for the Canadian disabled population. This paper will address the literature gap by providing an examination of the Canadian disabled population while considering socio-demographic compounding factors to compare the fertility intentions of Canadians living with or without a disability. When moving forward with the development of future policy decisions aimed at removing the barriers to parenthood, this research will highlight the additional needs of Canada’s childbearing-aged disabled population who wish to be parents.

Jiangyuan Lin, University of Toronto

Exploring New Fathers' Perspectives: Unraveling the Division of Unpaid Care and the Role of Caregiver

Child development is significantly influenced by the involvement of fathers (Cardenas et al. 2021). However, existing literature has consistently indicated a gendered and unequal division of labor within households, with mothers often burdened with a greater division of care (Doan and Quadlin 2018; Ryjova et al. 2022; Shechory and Ziv 2007). To address this unequal divide in Canada, changes have been made to the parental leave policy to encourage greater paternal engagement (Employment and Social Development Canada 2019). As such, an emerging body of evidence in other countries with similar policies has started to report on an increase in fathers’ involvement in childcare (Almqvist and Duvander 2014; Evertsson, Boye, and Erman 2018; Schober and Zoch 2018). This study aims to answer the question “How do fathers perceive their parental roles and responsibilities?" Specifically, the research hopes to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of fathers regarding unpaid childcare work and the division of labor within households. It is also intended to examine the emerging trend of the “new father”, a more involved parent, in the Canadian context. This research draws data from The Care Economies in Context study, led by Professor Ito Peng, Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy at the University of Toronto. The broader objective of the project is to measure and compare childcare and elder care provision in nine different countries, and to develop policy recommendations as a result. This research included interview data from 10 fathers, aged 28 to 57, 50% of whom are visible minorities and 90% from urban areas, and their children are mostly preschoolers. The thematic analysis was guided by two conceptual frameworks. The first framework comes from Coltranes (1997) concept of new fathers. The concept of a successful father has evolved to include the necessity of emotional and interactive care for children, compared to traditional successful fatherhood where fathers served as a breadwinner in support of finance. These fathers are labeled as “new fathers” (Coltrane 1997). It is often the case that the active involvement of "new fathers" in care work is a result of their endorsement of a new masculinity ideology that requires men to be more emotionally expressive and more self-reflective (Offer and Kaplan 2021). As another part of the theoretical framework, Andrea (2015) identifies three key dimensions of parental responsibility: emotional, community, and moral. Emotional responsibility extends to a parents conscious awareness of their childrens needs as well as their ongoing attention to them. Community responsibility emphasizes the importance of the skills of organization and negotiation necessary to navigate networks and individuals involved in childcare processes and daily routines. Often intertwined with emotional and community responsibility, moral responsibility places greater emphasis on adhering to public gender norms and parenthood role expectations. The combination of these dimensions provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the responsibilities of fatherhood. My results support Andreas concept of the new father, and most of the responsibilities discussed by fathers could be classified as examples of Andreas emotional or community parental responsibilities. Another major theme I identified was how fathers sought to balance their work responsibilities with their childcare responsibilities. This was in contrast to much literature about how fathers tend to see their work as composing their primary identity and fatherhood as secondary. Lastly, I did find that despite evidence of this progression toward ‘new fatherhood’ some gendered divisions of tasks persist and the division of labour is still not always described as 50/50 between the fathers and their partners. In brief conclusion, the study participants, self-identified caregivers, provided valuable insights into the evolving concept of new fatherhood and their increased involvement in childcare responsibilities. They reported contributing toward a wide range of emotional and community-based responsibilities, including accompanying children and caring for their mental, physical, moral, and health development as emotional responsibility, as well as community responsibilities, such as assisting mothers with grandparents’ involvement in care work and selecting quality child care facilities. The fathers also display a more emotionally connected form of fatherhood, where pride, enjoyment and the willingness of dedication are shown. However, a gendered division of tasks persisted, with mothers shouldering the majority of housework and emotional care responsibilities, reinforcing traditional gender roles to some extent.

J Sparks, University of Guelph

Balancing school, work, and family: The impact of Covid-19 on post-secondary student caregivers' school to work transitions.

Being a caregiver while pursuing post-secondary education can require students to navigate additional social, financial, and emotional complexities, while also meeting academic requirements (van Rhijn, Smit Quosai, and Lero, 2011). For example, post-secondary student caregivers may balance their academic commitments with (including but not limited to), childcare, eldercare, and other family related responsibilities. Further, over the course of their studies, student carers may also carry multiple employment roles as well. While work and family roles can motivate students, research suggests that students with caregiving roles can disproportionately face economic insecurity, difficulties meeting their basic needs, and additional time demands (van Rhijn, Lero, and Burke, 2016; Cruse, Mendez, and Holtzman, 2020). Unfortunately, pandemic realities exasperated the challenges faced by post-secondary student caregivers. Yet, a limited amount of information has been published on post-secondary students who navigate school, work, and family responsibilities within Canadian higher education. The goal of this mixed methods research study is to encourage understanding, discussion, and advocacy in support of those balancing multiple roles as post-secondary students, employees, and caregivers. In particular, this paper presentation will describe student caregivers’ educational and employment experiences pre, during, and post the COVID-19 pandemic. The research findings may be used to inform policies, services, and resources aimed at supporting this equity deserving group. Overall, the presentation will advocate and advance equity, diversity, and inclusion for student caregivers as learners navigating multiple roles and intersectionality.