Migration and Dynamics in Men’s and Women’s Domestic Work

Abstract

International migration of couples is rising. Still, there is little evidence on men’s and women’s domestic work hours before and after migration. This is despite the fact that domestic work provides deep insights into family life and, for migrants, is directly linked to integration. Therefore, this study examines how immigrant men and women change their domestic work hours following migration, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Our results show that domestic work hours increase for both genders after immigration. However, men are more responsible for running errands than women in the first years after migration. In the long term, the gender gaps return to the pre-migration state, with women shouldering a greater load than men. Accordingly, this study shows that migration only has a short-term impact on couples’ division of domestic work.