Let’s talk: who’s doing the housework and care tasks? A two-wave survey experiment

Last registered on May 21, 2025

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Let’s talk: who’s doing the housework and care tasks? A two-wave survey experiment

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0015638

Initial registration date

May 16, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

May 21, 2025, 3:27 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

Netherlands

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Max van Lent

Affiliation

Leiden University

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Jordy Meekes

PI Affiliation

Leiden University

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PI Name

Pim Koopmans

PI Affiliation

CPB

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PI Name

Robert Dur

PI Affiliation

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam

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Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2025-04-11

End date

2025-07-31

Keywords

Gender, Labor

Additional Keywords

housework and care tasks, division of labor, survey experiment

JEL code(s)

D13, J22

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

In a household, the housework and care tasks are often unequally divided between partners. This may impact the well-being of members of the household as well as their labor market outcomes. While an unequal division can be chosen for efficiency reasons and/or because of preferences, other reasons such as social norms or habits may also play an important role.

In this study, we elicit peoples' perceived division of housework and care tasks in their household and elicit their satisfaction with this division. Using an RCT we then study the effects of nudging people who are unsatisfied with the division of housework and care tasks in their household to talk about and renegotiate this division. We examine effects on the division of taks (specifically on whether the gap between the actual and desired has decreased) and satisfaction with the division of tasks and with their relationship 2 months later.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Dur, Robert et al. 2025. "Let’s talk: who’s doing the housework and care tasks? A two-wave survey experiment." AEA RCT Registry. May 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15638-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We test the impact of a nudge that stimulates people that are unsatisfied with the division of housework and care tasks in their household on the division of these tasks 2 months later. Specifically we study the impact on the difference between the actual and desired division of tasks, the satisfaction with this division and the satisfaction with their relationship.

The nudge:
"If your ideal division of household and caregiving tasks with your partner differs from the current division, it may be a good idea to try to make some changes. One way to achieve this is by regularly discussing the matter with your partner. It can be helpful to first identify who is responsible for which tasks in the household and how much time these tasks take. Are the actual housework and caregiving tasks each partner completes in line with what you both ideally want, or is there room for improvement? It may be beneficial to have this conversation regularly."

Next we ask the question:

"Do you plan to (regularly) discuss the current division of household and caregiving tasks with your partner and explore ways to redistribute these tasks?"

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2025-04-11

Intervention End Date

2025-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

-whether there was a conversation about the division of tasks
-the difference between the actual and desired division of tasks
-the satisfaction with the division of tasks
-the satisfaction with the relationship with their partner

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Among a sample of Dutch people with a partner, we study the impact of a nudge (about talking with the partner about the division of housework and care tasks) on our outcome variables (as specified above).
We randomize the treatment (the nudge) at the household level. Note that part of the data consists of couples (both partners are in the survey), another part consists of individuals (who have a partner that is not part of the experiment).

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization is done by a computer

Randomization Unit

We randomize at the household level, some households have 2 people in the survey others have 1.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

500 participants from 250 households (i.e. both partners are in the survey) plus another 500 participants (who have a partner that is not in the survey)

Sample size: planned number of observations

1000

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

500 respondents in the treatment group, 500 respondents in the control group.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

For calculating the standardized MDE for our outcomes we use the conventional alpha=0.05 and beta=0.8, leading to z-scores of: 1.96 and 0.84. With 2 groups (control and treatment group) and 1000 observations we get an MDE of: MDE=(1.96+0.84)/sqrt(1000/2) = 0.125 SD. Note that in the above calculation we assume that no one is perfectly satisfied with the current division of tasks (therefore we keep 1000 observations). If 10% would be perfectly satisfied, (they will not be part of the control and treatment group) we get effectively 900 observations, therefore the standardized MDE would be: 0.132. Part of the hypotheses can only be tested for couples who are both in the survey. For these hypotheses we expect 500 instead of 1000 responses, the MDE is therefore: (1.96+0.84)/sqrt(500/2) = 1.771

Supporting Documents and Materials

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