Reinterpreting the gender gap in household pro-environmental behaviour

Research has identified a gender gap in household-level environmental protection, with women engaging more frequently than men. However, this gender gap is rarely seen as problematic; environmental sociologists have referred to household-level pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) as ‘low-hanging fruit’ in the pursuit of ecological sustainability – actions that are easy to adopt and reduce environmental impact. To date, environmental sociologists have neglected to ask how women’s higher rate of engagement in these behaviours relates to women’s outcomes more generally. In this article, we draw on past literature within and beyond environmental sociology to develop a theoretical approach for future research on the gender gap in PEB. We also use descriptive statistical analyses of cross-national survey data to demonstrate our argument. Not only do we show that women’s engagement in PEB is tied to her economic status in ways that are distinct from men’s engagement in PEB, we see that this difference persists across varying household arrangements of paid work. Understanding this as evidence of a gendered relationship between household PEB and economic status, we recommend future directions of research. Given that household environmental protection is a gendered practice, we feel environmental sociologists are poised to make important contributions to research on gender.