UNDERSTANDING CHINESE COUPLES: AN EXPLORATION OF HOUSEWORK TIME, LEISURE AND SLEEP GAPS, AND MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

This dissertation examines the allocation of housework time, the leisure and the sleep gaps, and the mental health among married couples in China. Using one of the very first panel data about Chinese families, this dissertation makes three principal contributions. First, I examine the interpretational power of the major housework theories in explaining housework time allocation in a non-western social context. The findings suggest that wives and husbands show different patterns in allocating housework time. Wives’ housework time follow the gender display hypothesis. For husbands, individual income plays a decisive role in determining the time spent on housework. Second, detailed time-use information is analyzed to better understand the leisure and the sleep gaps between spouses in China. I use the housework theories to explain spousal leisure and sleep gaps. The findings show that gender traditionalism among spouses affects their leisure gap. The sleep gap between spouses is affected by the share of income. A curvilinear relationship is found between wives’ share of couple’s total income and the sleep gap between wives and husbands. Third, I examine the mental health among married couples in China, and find that factors affecting depression for wives and husbands are different. A curvilinear relationship between the division of housework and the depression is found among wives. For husbands, a curvilinear relationship between the share of couple’s total labor and the depression is identified.