On contrary to the popular belief that married couples who share household tasks and chores are more likely to divorce, a recent study by Stockholm University’s Demography Unit claims a mismatch in dividing household duties could actually lead to the damnation of your relationship, a huge impact on marital satisfaction and stability.
Housework consistently ranks among the leading sources of conflict for married couples, and research shows that men still do less, on average, than women. Sometimes, one partner could even create seven additional hours of housework per week for the other.
Whether male or female, relationship satisfaction was found to be lower in couples where one partner reports doing the bulk of the housework. The most common but critical cases are when couples believe they are sharing household duties equally, but one partner says he/she is carrying out more chores, leaving both parties often unsatisfied.
When the man doesn’t acknowledge that the woman does more work, it gives a negative effect on the relationship. Researchers have found that women end their marriage more often because they get annoyed at having to do more of the housework and childcare, on top of taking care of the husband’s needs.
The study also shows that men’s fair contributions to household labour produced better and more frequent sex, so there you have it, guys. Time to put that couch potato attitude on pause!
