The Gender Gap in Domestic Work Seen Through a Typology: Between Change and Continuity

This article contributes to the debate on gender convergence in time use by highlighting the heuristic potential of multiple factor analysis and cluster analysis in identifying distinct profiles and tendencies. By applying these methodological approaches, it offers new insights into the slow and uneven process of narrowing the gender gap, shedding light on the social complexity that underlies statistical data. The findings present a typology of sociological profiles in terms of change, continuity, and ambivalence. These allow for a characterisation of heterogeneity in terms of perceived responsibility of care work, as well as responsibility taken for, and time spent on, domestic work. Furthermore, an analysis of how these profiles have evolved over the past decade shows that the persistence of continuity- and ambivalence-oriented clusters helps explain the overall slow pace of gender convergence.