Weak Men and Disorderly Women: Divorce and the Division of Labor

Abstract

Though married women have steadily increased their labor force activity, most continue to do the bulk of the housework. However, due to increases in life expectancy and declines in fertility, homemaking is no longer a lifetime career for women as a group. Without a wife who specializes in homemaking, married couples must balance the responsibilities for such tasks in new ways. In recent years, husbands have assumed greater responsibility for routine housework. This research investigates the consequences of husbands' involvement in women's tasks, and wives' involvement in men's tasks for the stability of their marriages. We show that women's work endangers marriages, regardless of which spouse does it. Greater involvement in traditionally female housework by either partner is associated with higher chances of divorce or separation. However, the consequences of the time that husbands and wives spend in various tasks is strongly conditioned by perceptions of fairness.

JEL Classification: J12