Why Do Women Care More & Men Couldn't Care Less?

Abstract

The health and well-being of society are sustained by a combination of paid and unpaid care work. Yet caregiving roles and occupations are overwhelmingly occupied by women. We outline evidence for five key sociocultural barriers to men's engagement in the care economy. These include prevalent cultural stereotypes that men are inherently less caring, despite little evidence for gender differences in caregiving abilities. Rather, men are socialized from a young age to devalue care as an activity at odds with being a man. These gendered beliefs about care have been getting wider over time and are especially entrenched in wealthy, individualistic societies. Without a collective understanding of these sociocultural barriers, people are unmotivated to change them. Given the myriad benefits of promoting a more gender-balanced care economy, elucidating the reasons women care more than men can motivate society to overcome these obstacles in new ways.