http://time.com/76023/pay-gap-gender-kids-allowances/
When you commented on my cultural artifact essay you included a totally intriguing idea about how since children’s toys seem to be chore oriented per gender biases, that alongside with girls getting cooking sets boys should be getting toys like “taking out the trash” or “squishing bugs”. Hysterical. Because of antiquated gender roles, even little girls are feeling higher expectations in regards to domestic chores. Not only that, but according to Time magazine, they put in about two more hours a week of chores and are paid less when allowance is distributed per chore in comparison to boys. Is it really that deeply ingrained, even into parents that typically want the best and most fair for their children?
“This chore pay gap also demonstrates to girls that household work doesn’t count as work that should be rewarded.” The old fashioned belief that women are naturally more inclined to do household work and caretake. This coincides with the mom taking the child grocery shopping and nobody thinks anything of it, but when the dad takes the child with him to grocery shop, he playfully gets asked if he got stuck babysitting… his own child… How offensive. The idea that it is expected of women to do domestic tasks shows how underappreciated it is. Especially in our society where women typically are working jobs outside of the home, it’s pretty off-putting that the expectation remains for women to mostly themselves do domestic tasks because they’re groomed to be better at it.
The article refers to it as a junior gender pay gap. Also, the tasks being asked of the child can differ by gender. Maybe the boys empty the garbage pale while the girls wipe down the counters. I always say this to the kids that I nanny when I teach them how to cook, clean, fold laundry, or do other household tasks. “You’ll have your own home someday and you’ll need to know how to do everything”. I start them off with easy tasks as early as 4. They’ll carry their own clothes in small amounts into their rooms for me to put away. Although it makes it tremendously more difficult for me to get stuff done in a timely manner, it shows them responsibility. Therefore, teaching your children responsibility through chores backfires when you’re also teaching them which tasks apply to them, as well as an unequal pay distribution due to biased gender expectations.