1.1. Practically all children set or clear the table

Two of the listed tasks are typically performed by children: setting or clearing the table and, among families that have them (72%), looking after pets. Almost all children (9 in 10) report doing one of these two tasks at least occasionally, and a large share do so daily: 4 in 10 children set the table every day, and 5 in 10 look after pets. Tidying their bedroom, or the bedroom shared with siblings, is another task performed by 9 in 10 children. A quarter tidy it every week. These activities concern their own personal space and life, as much as that of the family as a whole. Children also help their parents with other domestic tasks: more than 6 in 10 report helping with cooking or cleaning, and half help to fold or hang out the laundry. A smaller proportion (4 in 10) help to take out the garbage. These four tasks are also more occasional; only 1 child out of 10 performs them weekly.

1.2. Boys contribute less than girls

At age 10, children’s contribution to domestic tasks differs by sex. For the majority of the listed tasks, girls participate more than boys (Figure 1). Boys set and clear the table as often as girls, while a larger share of girls look after pets, tidy their bedroom, and help with laundry and cooking. They also perform these tasks more frequently. Taking out the garbage is the only task more often performed by boys. This gendered division of tasks by type reflects that observed among adults: adult women take primary responsibility for care, cooking, cleaning, and laundry in the home. Men are slightly more involved in tasks performed outdoors [4, 5].

These gender differences at age 10 partly mirror the common pattern of domestic task sharing between parental couples (Figure 2).² In families where the mother does most of the domestic work, boys do slightly fewer tasks than girls. This is also the case when it is shared equally between the parents, or the mother does slightly more. In the small share of families where the father does more domestic work than the mother, the children help with fewer tasks, whatever their sex, perhaps because the father’s larger contribution means that less help is needed. Other studies have shown that the father’s involvement in the domestic sphere encourages a more equal gender division in adolescence [6].

1.3. Only children contribute less, and those with two or more siblings contribute more

Children’s participation in domestic tasks is linked to family type. Only children, boys and girls alike, participate less than those with siblings, except in looking after pets (Figure 3). Only children have pets (75%) more often than other children (71%) and more often look after them. Children’s help with setting and clearing the table, cleaning, and taking out the garbage increases with the number of siblings. They are given more tasks to do when the total domestic workload is greater. In families with three or more children, the parents may organize job ‘rotas’ or ask the children to do tasks together as a means to foster equality between the siblings and a sense of communal living.

In families of two children or more, their sex composition has only a marginal impact: brothers cook slightly more often when they outnumber sisters, and sisters take out the garbage slightly more often when the reverse is true. While children with younger siblings more often tidy their bedroom, they tend to help less with cooking and cleaning than children of the same age with older siblings. Ten-year-olds with older siblings are probably asked to contribute to housework at a younger age, either to share the work with their older brothers and sisters, or because a rota is in place.

While one might assume that lone parents ask for more help from their children in the absence of a partner, this is not the case (Figure 4). Children in lone-parent families—in most cases living with their mother—tend to help less with cooking than children living with an adult couple (either the parents or a parent and step-parent), even after controlling for socio-­economic characteristics and family size. They help to the same extent with other tasks. This can be explained in several ways. In lone-parent families, meal preparation may be simpler and less time-consuming. It may also be more difficult for lone parents to persuade their children to lend a hand. And perhaps lone mothers or fathers do not wish to overburden their ­children with domestic tasks.

Do children’s contributions differ by family type? The case of children living in alternating residence after parental separation, living half the time with their father and half with their mother, is particularly interesting in this respect. The majority of children (62%) in alternating residence report participating equally in both homes, boys more so than girls (66% vs. 57%), while 25% report helping more at their mother’s home than at their father’s and 14% the reverse. They may be asked to participate more by their mother (and less by their stepmother if the father has a new partner) or more frequently offer to help her.

1.4. Girls’ participation differs by social category

Boys’ participation in domestic tasks and the types of tasks they perform do not vary by social category (Figure 5). They perform a similar number of tasks, whatever their father’s occupational category.³ For girls, the pattern is slightly different. Those whose father is a farmer or manual worker perform more tasks because girls in working-class families are more frequently asked to provide help [1]. They more often perform collective tasks such as setting the table, caring for pets, helping with cooking, doing the laundry, and cleaning. Girls with parents in higher-level occupations more often tidy their bedroom by themselves but provide less help with cleaning, laundry, and garbage, partly because these families more often have a paid domestic helper to do the housework (21% vs. 11%, on average). It is in this group that the gender differences are smallest. They are largest in families where the father is a manual worker or farmer, even after taking account of the parental division of domestic labour. The mother’s social category, on the other hand, has no impact, and the effect of her employment status is small: children with an inactive or unemployed mother participate slightly less in cooking and tidying activities than those whose mother works. Children’s participation depends to a limited extent on the mother’s educational level: gender differences are larger for children with a low-educated mother.

1.5. Soliciting the children’s help: pocket money and/or praise?

Parents may apply different methods to solicit their children’s participation. Overall, one-third of parents give their children pocket money for help with chores or jobs around the house, boys slightly more often than girls, and more frequently in families where the father is a farmer, artisan, trader, or ­manual worker than in those where he is in a higher-level occupation. Around half of parents report always praising their children when they help with domestic tasks, those in higher-level occupations and artisans/traders slightly more than the others. These rewards, financial or symbolic, are positively associated with children’s greater participation in the listed routine domestic tasks.

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At age 10, girls and boys differ in terms of their participation in domestic tasks, partly reproducing the gender inequalities observed among parents. These differences are smaller at this age than in adolescence and vary slightly by social category. They may reflect differing conceptions of childhood and education, and varying degrees of family adherence to the egalitarian norm. Beyond family level, they also stem from gendered representations in the broader environment of child socialization (media, school, sport, etc.).