"Husbands do less housework than boyfriends"

05/09/2007

It didn't really take a scientific survey to reveal what most women find out the hard way. For some reason, the minute your live-in partner puts a wedding ring on his finger, helping with housework suddenly becomes a faint and distant memory, and the woman ends up taking on more of the domestic chores as if due to some invisible clause in the marriage vows.

At least this age-old stereotype has been given more credibility with the George Mason University research co-written by sociologist Shannon Davis. They provided a "snapshot" in time by studying more than 17,000 people in 28 countries and the results were the same - married men report doing less housework than men who are live-in boyfriends.

According to Davis, the key finding is that the institution of marriage changes the division of labor. Couples with an egalitarian view on gender - seeing men and women as equal - are more likely to divide the household chores equally. However, in married relationships, even if an egalitarian viewpoint is present, men still report doing less housework than their wives.

“Marriage as an institution seems to have a traditionalizing effect on couples - even couples who see men and women as equal,” says Davis. “Our research suggests that couples across many countries are influenced by similar factors when deciding how to divide the housework. It’s the way society has defined what being married means, the institution itself, that affects behavior.”

So, readers, is this true? Or is it unfair on men? Send us your views.