Does women's educational advantage mean a more egalitarian distribution of gender roles? Evidence from dual-earner couples in Spain

ABSTRACT In most Western countries, there is clear evidence of a reduction and even a reversal of the gender gap in education. However, there are doubts about the effect of this reversal on family life and about its impact on the distribution of gender roles within couples. Using data from the Spanish time use survey of 2009–10, this paper explores whether the improved education of women is translating to better occupations and higher incomes and whether it is related to a more egalitarian distribution of gender roles. The greater human capital that women are developing as a result of their improved education is being wasted because it is not reflected in better positions in terms of occupational class and income. The barriers of ‘doing gender’ also prevent a fully egalitarian division of roles, and only the most advantaged women are in couples with a relatively egalitarian division of time.