The impact of unpaid care work on job satisfaction: Is it shaped by gender inequality?

Fernández Puente, Adolfo C. and Sánchez-Sánchez, Nuria (2026) The impact of unpaid care work on job satisfaction: Is it shaped by gender inequality? ACTA OECONOMICA, 76 (1). pp. 21-49. ISSN 0001-6373

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Abstract

This paper analyses the impact of the number of unpaid care hours (NUCH) on job satisfaction in European (19) countries through the European Working Conditions Survey and verifies if there exists a differential pattern depending on gender-based disparities in the country. The descriptive results reveal substantial cross-country variation in NUCH, with women consistently reporting higher levels of unpaid care work in every national context examined. Heckman two-step estimates show that NUCH has a negative and significant influence on job satisfaction and that this effect is stronger for women than for men. The impact of NUCH is negative across the different groups of countries considered, but statistically significant only in those with greater gender equality, according to the Global Gender Gap Index. The importance of work–life conciliation also appears to be greater for women in this group. The estimates were obtained using Heckman's two-step model to address the possible presence of sample-selection bias. Our results evidence the need to consider the individual's environment (in our case, the degree of gender inequality) to observe the distribution of care work by gender and its impact on job satisfaction, and not just the individual factors. Investing in the health and social sectors could not only reduce NUCH for women but also affect women's job satisfaction. In the short term, improvement of women's conditions could feasibly increase their awareness of the problem, producing a negative impact, but the reduction of NUCH and fairer distribution should increase job satisfaction in the long term.

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