Equal Time, Unequal Labor Division: Adolescents' Domestic Labor Time During the COVID ‐19 Pandemic

While existing research offers mixed evidence on how the COVID‐19 pandemic affected adults' division of housework, adolescents have remained largely overlooked in this regard. Using nationally representative data from the 2019–2021 American Time Use Survey and Current Population Survey, this study examines changes in adolescents' unpaid labor before and during the pandemic using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses. Results indicate that boys' domestic labor time remained stable, whereas girls' time decreased during the pandemic, when schools were closed and youth unemployment was high. Individual‐level time availability was associated with modest reductions in domestic labor time, but its explanatory power was limited relative to gender. Despite these changes, a substantial gender gap in total unpaid labor persisted. Girls consistently performed more routine housework than boys, while gender differences were not significant for discretionary chores. The findings provide partial support for time availability theory while underscoring the continued salience of gender in shaping adolescents' domestic labor. By centering youth, the study extends existing scholarship and raises concerns that these patterns may have reinforced gendered expectations about unpaid work.