A recently published study in the journal Social Science & Medicine investigated gender differences in parent responsibilities for child healthcare-focused tasks and found that mothers were twice as likely as fathers to be primarily responsible for the tasks.

The cross-sectional study reports on data from the Voices of Child Health in Chicago survey, in which the researchers asked 1,142 parents about child healthcare responsibilities, specifically who was primarily responsible for scheduling child healthcare appointments, taking the child to well-child visits, and taking the child to sick visits.  

Key Takeaways

  • The gender difference persisted across demographic variables. 
  • Child healthcare tasks were more evenly shared by parents in same-sex couples. 
  • The uneven distribution of child healthcare tasks is detrimental not only for mothers’ health, but also for fathers and children. 
  • Pediatricians have the opportunity to promote fathers’ involvement in healthcare-focused tasks for children, such as by encouraging fathers to enter practice contact information in their phone, which is a way to reduce social and family expectations that mothers should be the primary point of contact with healthcare providers, according to the researchers. 

The lead author of the study is Marie Heffernan, PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of Voices of Child Health, Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research and Evaluation Center, Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute. 

Pediatric research at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute.

Article Citations 

Heffernan ME, Alfieri NL, Keese A, Bendelow AC, Casale M, Smith TL, Menker CG, Parker JJ, Garfield CF, Davis MM, Macy ML. Differences in responsibility for child healthcare by parent gender: A cross-sectional study. Social Science & Medicine. 2025;365:117576. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117576