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The persisting gendered division of domestic labor in Western societies remains puzzling. Beyond standard economic and normative explanations, more recent approaches emphasize affective, cognitive, and incorporated aspects of housework and the production, reproduction, and negotiation of gendered expectations via social interactions. However, the relevant indicators for these more implicit mechanisms are not routinely included in social surveys. Based on a unique set of items and a representative sample of heterosexual couples (N = 1396) from pairfam (wave 10), we analyze the mutual effects of both partners' enjoyment, quality standards, and reciprocally perceived competencies on the division of housework. Actor–partner interdependence models (APIM) are applied, which explicitly model the partner dyad. Both an actor's own and their partner's assessments of competences and preferences—and particularly men's attributes and perceptions—prove to be powerful predictors of housework share. The results contribute quantitative evidence on processes of doing and undoing gender in context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the role of generalized trust and control in households' employment of domestic help. Applying a basic trust game with uncertainty, we argue that households differ in their estimate of the proportion of opportunistic domestic workers, variation which we ascribe to generalized trust. Households with low trust should estimate a lower proportion of non-opportunistic individuals, making them less willing to accept a domestic worker. Control, through direct supervision of the domestic worker, is assumed to serve as a substitute for trust and is expected to increase acceptance. We also consider the role of income, which we expect to alter the relation between the potential losses and gains associated with outsourcing. To test our hypotheses, we use a factorial survey conducted in 2020 in Germany and the UK (N = 1877) which enables us to explore the robustness of the effects across countries. Experimental results show that individuals are more accepting of domestic outsourcing if they have higher trust, higher income, and if control of the worker is easily possible. Interaction effects reveal that the positive effect of higher trust and higher income is only relevant in low control situations. This suggest that households with higher trust and income have an advantage when it comes to fully utilizing the benefits of domestic help since costly control is not required. Consequently, the results substantially contribute to existing literature on explaining causes of social inequality in service use beyond financial restrictions and shed light on the complex interplay of trust and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outsourcing of housework is broadly recognized as providing an impetus for increasing women's participation in the labor market and relieving the burdens of households with children and dual earners. Despite an objective need, demand for paid domestic services is low, even for households with sufficient financial resources. By drawing on a German survey of cohabiting couples aged between 30 and 60, we analyze households that have, to date, not used domestic services (N = 1479). Based on items about attitudes toward domestic services, we identify five distinct attitude profiles defined by diverse combinations and levels of sociocultural barriers to outsourcing housework, including gendered expectations, privacy concerns, aversion toward a servant culture, and trust and control issues. Our results establish that half of the sample exhibits scarcely any sociocultural aversion to the employment of domestic help. While some of these households report preferring to do housework within the family, households of higher social strata, in particular, express a need for external support, but are hindered by an insufficient supply of and access to appropriate paid domestic services. In contrast, the other half of the sample consists of subgroups of rejectors, revealing different levels of disapproval and normative‐moral profiles concerning outsourcing. Interestingly, complete rejectors are often found in low‐income households, indicating a strong connection between socioeconomic and sociocultural characteristics. The results highlight the potential for future developments within the domestic service sector to meet customers' normative and moral concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant-based diets benefit individual health and the environment, yet most people eat omnivorous diets. We aim to (1) assess the role of multiple determinants for transitioning to more plant-based diets in a sample of omnivorous respondents, such as recommendations from doctors, scientists and politicians; lower costs; and increased availability, and to (2) identify which subpopulations are most receptive to which determinants. Using data from a survey on the use and acceptance of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Germany (N=4,065; N omnivorous=3,419; 84%), we find that the overall willingness to change to a more plant-based diet is low (mean=2.25 on a scale of 1 to 4). Respondents are most willing based on doctors' recommendations (mean=2.61), and if prices for plant-based products were lower (mean=2.55), and least willing based on scientists' and politicians' recommendations (mean=1.86). Regression analyses reveal that men, the baby boomer cohort, and respondents with lower levels of education have a significantly lower willingness to transition to more plant-based diets. Further, recommendations from doctors, scientists, and politicians appear to be promising interventions for addressing the dietary behavior of men and older cohorts. Interventions by doctors and lower prices for plant-based products have the highest potential to induce dietary change even among the reluctant, reducing health inequalities and promoting environmentally friendly behavior., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest: MT reports grants from the Karl and Veronica Carstens Foundation. MJ reports grants from the Karl and Veronica Carstens Foundation. CK reports grants from the Karl and Veronica Carstens Foundation for conducting this study. He is a member of the scientific advisory board of the company Bruno Zimmer, board member of the German Medical Doctors’ Association for Ayurveda-Medicine (DÄGAM e.V.) and receives honoraria for lecturing Ayurveda at Sonne und Mond, Berlin. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)