Couples who share the housework are more likely to divorce.

[Danno 1,228]

If you value your marriage, let her do the dishes!

Couples who share the housework are more likely to divorce, study finds

Divorce rates are far higher among “modern” couples who share the housework than in those where the woman does the lion’s share of the chores, a Norwegian study has found.

In what appears to be a slap in the face for gender equality, the report found the divorce rate among couples who shared housework equally was around 50 per cent higher than among those where the woman did most of the work.

“What we’ve seen is that sharing equal responsibility for work in the home doesn’t necessarily contribute to contentment,” said Thomas Hansen, co-author of the study entitled “Equality in the Home”.

The lack of correlation between equality at home and quality of life was surprising, the researcher said.

“One would think that break-ups would occur more often in families with less equality at home, but our statistics show the opposite,” he said.

The figures clearly show that “the more a man does in the home, the higher the divorce rate,” he went on.

The reasons, Mr Hansen said, lay only partially with the chores themselves.

“Maybe it’s sometimes seen as a good thing to have very clear roles with lots of clarity ... where one person is not stepping on the other’s toes,” he suggested.

“There could be less quarrels, since you can easily get into squabbles if both have the same roles and one has the feeling that the other is not pulling his or her own weight.”

But the deeper reasons for the higher divorce rate, he suggested, came from the values of “modern” couples rather than the chores they shared.

“Modern couples are just that, both in the way they divide up the chores and in their perception of marriage” as being less sacred, Mr Hansen said. “In these modern couples, women also have a high level of education and a well-paid job, which makes them less dependent on their spouse financially.

They can manage much easier if they divorce,” he said. Norway has a long tradition of gender equality and childrearing is shared equally between mothers and fathers in 70 per cent of cases.

But when it comes to housework, women in Norway still account for most of it in seven out of 10 couples. The study emphasised women who did most of the chores did so of their own volition and were found to be as “happy” those in “modern” couples.

Dr Frank Furedi, Sociology professor at the University of Canterbury, said the study made sense as chore sharing took place more among couples from middle class professional backgrounds, where divorce rates are known to be high.

“These people are extremely sensitive to making sure everything is formal, laid out and contractual. That does make for a fairly fraught relationship,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

“The more you organise your relationship, the more you work out diaries and schedules, the more it becomes a business relationship than an intimate, loving spontaneous one.

“That tends to encourage a conflict of interest rather than finding harmonious resolutions.” He said while the survey applied to Norway, he was confident the results would be the same in the UK.

“In a good relationship people simply don’t know who does what and don’t particularly care. “Unless marriage is a relationship above anything else, then whenever there are tensions or contradictions things come to a head. You have less capacity to forgive and absorb the bad stuff.”

The survey appeared to contradict another recent one across seven countries including Britain that found that men who shouldered a bigger share of domestic responsibilities had a better sense of wellbeing and enjoyed a better work-life balance.

The researchers expected to find that where men shouldered more of the burden, women’s happiness levels were higher. In fact they found that it was the men who were happier while their wives and girlfriends appeared to be largely unmoved.

Those men who did more housework generally reported less work-life conflict and were scored slightly higher for wellbeing overall.

Experts suggested that, while this may be partly because they felt less guilty, the main reason could be that they had simply learnt the secret of a quiet life.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/9572187/Couples-who-share-the-housework-are-more-likely-to-divorce-study-finds.html

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Well it's a good thing I do everything, then.

Ok, that's not true, I don't do bathrooms.

[aaydrian 479]

Every man for himself in my book. Pick up after yourself and all will be great.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Teaching a grown man to pick up after himself is nearly impossible. Trust me, I've tried.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Every man for himself in my book. Pick up after yourself and all will be great.

Your marriage is doomed.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Teaching a grown man to pick up after himself is nearly impossible. Trust me, I've tried.

Have you tried corporal discipline? Some men just need a little encouragement.

[^_^ 5,021]

My wife had a switch installed on me, probably when I was sleeping because I don't recall having had the procedure. But I never pick up after myself when she's not around, I always do it when I'm within her line of sight. It's automagical.

[aaydrian 479]

Your marriage is doomed.

Well it's modern times now, what's one more divorce.

The article may be on to something, my father is overjoyed that my mother is borderline OCD with the mentality 'if you want something done good you do it youself'. Guess their relationship will be going till they're dead.

My wife had a switch installed on me, probably when I was sleeping because I don't recall having had the procedure. But I never pick up after myself when she's not around, I always do it when I'm within her line of sight. It's automagical.

I seems most people have slept with your wife then cause that bold part is done by a lot of folks.

Edited September 28, 2012 by aaydrian

[Pooky 3,830]

Have you tried corporal discipline? Some men just need a little encouragement.

Corporal Discipline is okay for Private Matters. However, wider usage leads to Major Problems and General Discontentment.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Well duh. That is common sense everyone knows that a man is supposed to run the house or it will create problems. Women say they want everything 50/50 but if your not THE MAN of the house a woman will not respect you. The same exact reason women say they want a polite respectful gentle sensitive man then always run to bad boys when they have chance. Demand respect and you will get it Its genetics men are supposed to hunt the animal women folk are supposed to cook it

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Household tip: Sanitize everything with gin!

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Well duh. That is common sense everyone knows that a man is supposed to run the house or it will create problems. Women say they want everything 50/50 but if your not THE MAN of the house a woman will not respect you. The same exact reason women say they want a polite respectful gentle sensitive man then always run to bad boys when they have chance. Demand respect and you will get it Its genetics men are supposed to hunt the animal women folk are supposed to cook it

What fcking year is it where you live?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

A bit of satire but in all satire there is some truth did you ever see the episode of Sienfield in which George becomes a bad boy !

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I've seen every episode of Seinfeld, more than once ... but I wouldn't use it to prove an argument

Edited September 28, 2012 by Evylin

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Have you tried corporal discipline? Some men just need a little encouragement.

Reported