Gendered Division of Digital Labor in Parenting: A Qualitative Study in Urban China

Abstract

The gendered division of domestic labor is a key topic in gender and family studies. While there has been extensive discussion of time use and the division of physical, emotional, and mental labor in housework and childcare within couples, the division of digital labor in the family has not been systematically examined. Drawing on qualitative data obtained from 147 parents in 84 urban Chinese families, this study reveals prominent gender differences in digital labor in parenting by comparing urban Chinese mothers' and fathers' use of digital technology and media in searching for parenting information, maintaining online communication with teachers, and shopping online and using online education services for their children. The findings demonstrate an unequal division of digital labor in urban Chinese families, in which mothers shoulder most of the digital labor in parenting. This study enriches the feminist literature by demonstrating the mutual construction of gender and digital technology in the domestic sphere and highlighting a new form of domestic labor divided between husbands and wives in the digital age. This study challenges liberating and progressive myths surrounding digital technology and calls for academic reflection and public attention on its constraining and exploitative implications for women. KeywordsDigital labor • Child care • Gender differences • Division of labor • Digital technology • Internet usage • China * Yinni Peng

A Systematic Review on Digitalisation, Parenting, and Children’s Mental Health in China amid the Pandemic

“…While positive parenting can facilitate youths' academic, emotional, and psychological well-being, Peng (2022) argued that parenting styles in China are gendered. The gendered parenting approaches stem from Confucianism which emphasises the importance of patriarchal familial relations.…”

“…In traditional Chinese domestic settings, fathers are interpreted as authority figures who economically support and morally guide their children, whereas mothers serve as caregivers. Despite the traditional gendered roles, in contemporary urban China, middle-class Chinese parents, including some fathers, perform multiple roles as playmates, teachers, friends, and counsellors in everyday childcare (Peng, 2022). Compared to more traditional Chinese fathers, their urban, privileged parental counterparts are more willing to take part in the emotional and physical care of children.…”

“…Compared to more traditional Chinese fathers, their urban, privileged parental counterparts are more willing to take part in the emotional and physical care of children. However, urban middle-class Chinese mothers rather than fathers remain the primary caregivers in domestic settings by far, even if they have a fulltime job and economically contribute to their families (Peng, 2022). As contemporary Chinese society is increasingly digitalised, the author discusses whether gendered parenting roles change or remain to help understand how fathers and mothers, if needed, should adjust their parenting styles to accommodate the academic, emotional, or psychological needs of their children.…”

“…Digitalisation significantly impacts parenting, where parents popularly incorporate digital platforms and media into everyday childcare. Parents explore childcare information online, maintain digital communications with children, and check children's academic duties on the online school system (Peng, 2022). This demonstrates that parenting and digitalisation are significantly tied, prompting the need to investigate if today's gendered parenting should be adjusted to better fit the digital influence and improve the mental health of children.…”

“…Despite Xie et al's (2020) survey failing to identify the causes of the high depression and anxiety rates, Singh et al (2020) argue that the cancellation of in-person academic activities due to home confinement served as a major factor of students' encounters of depression and anxiety. Not only were Chinese students' academic activities disrupted, but their parents, who used to send children to extra-curricular activities before the pandemic, were no longer able to send their children to activities beyond education (Peng, 2022). In the pandemic epoch, Chinese parents have increasingly, to some extent, been restrained from arranging digital education for their children to ensure their children maintain satisfactory academic wellbeing (Ye et al, 2021).…”