Who Brings Home the Bacon? How Individuals Living in the Same Household Shop

This paper examines the shopping labor division and the differences in shopping behaviors between men and women residing in the same household using a novel dataset containing information on the identities of the shoppers. I find both a highly asymmetric division of shopping labor and large differences in the shopping behavior between men and women within married households. Specifically, women undertake a much larger share of shopping tasks in most households. Along with the unequal share of shopping labor, men and women differ significantly in their purchase prices, trip sizes, store visits, and product choices. To uncover reasons behind the asymmetric shopping shares, I present evidence on the impact of the local environment on the shopping labor division via households' moving. The finding suggests that the current state of women as the major shopper may perpetuate the unequal shopping shares and provides one explanation for the asymmetric shopping labor division observed.