We examine differences in household specialization between same-sex and different-sex couples within and across three birth cohorts: Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. Using three measures of household specialization, we find that same-sex couples are less likely than their different-sex counterparts to exhibit a high degree of specialization. However, the "specialization gap" between same-sex and different-sex couples narrows across birth cohorts. These findings are indicative of a cohort effect. Our results are largely robust to the inclusion of a control for the presence of children and for subsets of couples with and without children. We provide three potential explanations for why the specialization gap narrows across cohorts. First, different-sex couples from more recent birth cohorts may have become more like same-sex couples in terms of household specialization. Second, social and legal changes may have prompted a greater degree of specialization within same-sex couples relative to different-sex couples. Last, the advent of reproductive technologies, which made having children easier for same-sex couples from more recent birth cohorts, could result in more specialization in such couples relative to different-sex couples.

Preschool can contribute importantly to human capital development, especially among poor children. In socialist countries, preschool enrolment rates have declined since transition. We examine changed preschool enrolment in Kyrgyzstan. We evaluate demand- and supply-side explanations for changing enrolments, and use household survey data to develop a simple, logit model of preschool attendance. We find that access plays the most important role in attendance, despite an apparent excess capacity in preschools at the national level. However, economic and cultural factors also have a significant impact on household decisions to send a child to preschool. Comparative Economic Studies (2007) 49, 81–100. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ces.8100178

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In order to successfully use gender as a structure of constraint, I posit that the concept of gender be expanded from dichotomous categories of masculine and feminine to a continuum where agents are motivated and constrained by characteristics within the two extremes. Further we must explore specific origins and attributes of gender - its relationship to sexuality, its dynamic nature and the significance of socio-historical context. Households consisting of same-sex couples provide an interesting case for examining the relationship between gender and the division of labor. Theoretical and empirical predictions claim that the lack of gender differentiation within such households results in inefficiencies, equality or gender-neutrality. In contrast, initial research on the division of labor within lesbian households indicates that lesbian couples employ a variety of different divisions of labor. One implication is that lesbian couples exhibit gendered patterns of relations. Same-sex households provide an avenue to expand our understanding of gender itself and the nature of the relationship between gender and the sexual division of labor.Gender, Division Of Labor, Household, Household Labor, Same-sex Households,

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