On the spatial dimension of the gender division of paid work in two-parent families: the case of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Research shows that female participation rates are lower in suburbs than in urban areas. In this paper we explore the residential patterns of the gender division of family households at the level of the neighbourhood. We draw on national register data (SSB) to define various arrangements of the way in which parents with dependent children divide paid work. These household arrangements are plotted onto maps to sketch the geography of division of paid work in Amsterdam. Our findings show that family households with specific gender divisions of paid work tend to cluster in specific residential environments: (1) families who work with a traditional division of labour are concentrated in social-housing estates in neighbourhoods with high shares of non-Western minorities; (2) one-and-a-half earner families are clustered in the most suburban parts of the city; and (3) symmetrical and female-breadwinner households concentrate in central gentrification areas of the city.