Efforts to redistribute household labor within different-gender couples often focus on how much time is spent on housework and childcare. However, that calculation fails to capture an accurate estimate of the true gender gap. Allison Daminger introduces us to the idea of cognitive labor, a form of work akin to project management, and demonstrates that this invisible burden falls disproportionately on women. While household contributions are primarily measured in minutes and documented through time-use diaries, Daminger argues that we must consider mind-use alongside time-use. Such cognitive labor is a ubiquitous feature of family life, and it represents a burden disproportionately borne by women in different-gender couples鈥攅ven when those couples aspire to equality.
Allison Daminger is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Allison鈥檚 research focuses on cognitive labor, or project management for the household. She has written about gender inequality for and , and her work has been featured in venues such as the , the , and Her book Thinking Gender: Cognitive Labor in Family Life will publish with Princeton in 2024.