Division of Labor and Collaboration Between Parents in Family Education

2026-02-11

AI Summary

This study addresses the significant cognitive and emotional burdens, ambiguous role divisions, and insufficient support often experienced by parents during homework assistance. Through in-depth interviews with 18 parents of young elementary school children, the research employs a qualitative approach informed by feminist and care-oriented theoretical frameworks, integrating a human-computer interaction (HCI) design perspective. It conceptualizes homework support as a form of labor, revealing the dynamic interplay of physical, cognitive, and emotional contributions among fathers, mothers, and children. The findings underscore that AI interventions should prioritize sustaining parent–child relationships over automating tasks, highlighting frequently overlooked dimensions of cognitive and emotional labor. This work provides a theoretical foundation and design guidance for developing context-sensitive, collaborative AI systems that support shared parenting practices.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Other Foundations of Human Computation & AI
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: AI & Jobs/Labor
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Fairness and ethical considerations in crowd work and in human-in-the-loop AI systems
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions

Abstract

Homework tutoring work is a demanding and often conflict-prone practice in family life, and parents often lack targeted support for managing its cognitive and emotional burdens. Through interviews with 18 parents of children in grades 1-3, we examine how homework-related labor is divided and coordinated between parents, and where AI might meaningfully intervene. We found three key insights: (1) Homework labor encompasses distinct dimensions: physical, cognitive, and emotional, with the latter two often remaining invisible. (2) We identified father-mother-child triadic dynamics in labor division, with children's feedback as the primary factor shaping parental labor adjustments. (3) Building on prior HCI research, we propose an AI design that prioritizes relationship maintenance over task automation or broad labor mitigation. By employing labor as a lens that integrates care work, we explore the complexities of labor within family contexts, contributing to feminist and care-oriented HCI and to the development of context-sensitive coparenting practices.

Problem

• homework tutoring
• division of labor
• parental collaboration
• emotional burden
• family education

Innovation

• division of labor
• care-oriented HCI
• AI for coparenting
• emotional labor
• family education