REMARRIAGE, STEPPARENTING, AND HOUSEHOLD LABOR

Using data from a nationally representative sample, this research investigated husbands' contributions to household labor in four types of families. first-married couples with biological children, remarried couples with biological children only, remarried couples with stepchildren only, and remarried couples with biological and stepchildren. Absolute and relative contributions to total household labor did not differ significantly across family types, but husbands in remarried families contributed significantly more to the five housework tasks of cooking, meal cleanup, shopping, laundry, and housecleaning. Multiple regression analysis confirmed that the influence of family type on the sharing of gender-typed housework is significant after controlling for the impact of relative resources, ideology, time availability, and household work load. The authors suggest that the "incomplete institutionalization" of remarriage may contribute to a weakening of the gender-based segregation of household labor.