Male Primary Caregivers and Domestic Labour: Involvement or Avoidance?

A 5-year investigation of the involvement of 25 male primary caregivers of young children in domestic labour (house and child-care tasks) revealed that these Australian men exceed the commitment found in previous studies, and that their patterns of task involvement are similar to those of women in the same situation. Over time, and particularly with regard to child care, one third of the couples in the group perceived that their previously stereotyped forms of play interaction with their children had moved to greater parity of style. Theoretical perspectives within family research emphasising different power locations have been used to explore these findings.