Intergenerational domestic support in China: the upward transfer of housework burdens and gender inequality

Parental domestic assistance has become a vital resource for young families coping with work-family conflict in China, yet its consequences for the gendered allocation of housework remain underexplored. Using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies (2010–2022) and fixed-effects regression models, this study examines how parental help in domestic work shapes the gendered division of household labor among both older parents and younger adult-child couples. Results show that parents who assist their adult children experience increased housework demands, with mothers’ housework time increasing more than fathers’, suggesting a wider gender gap among helping parents; by contrast, among adult-child couples, parental assistance is associated with wives’ reduced housework hours and a narrower gender gap. Mediation analysis further indicates that wives’ employment serves as a potential pathway through which parental help is associated with a narrower gender gap in housework time. These results highlight the collectively negotiated redistribution of domestic responsibilities within China’s multigenerational families.