House Work Must Be Split 50/50 ?

“When I get married house chores must be split 50/50!!” declared a soon to be married career woman.

The question of division of labour in the home is a complicated one. No matter how much you want to divide responsibilities.Women are certainly going to do more child care for the simple fact that toddlers and older kids are always going to be like "My mummy, I want this, Mummy I want that, I will tell my mummy for you, Mummy see what he did, …" Women are going to spend more time in the kitchen too. This is the way it is we can't fight it. No amount of setting quotas or nagging will make any difference. In fact, it might make you even more exhausted. 

How to create a fair division of labour in Marriage

With the advent of so many dual career marriages, the division of domestic responsibilities has become a major source of marital conflict. Changes in our cultural values have contributed greatly to the problem, because there is now almost unanimous agreement that both a husband and wife should share these responsibilities, particularly child care. But change in behavior has not kept pace with the change in values.

Traditionally, wives have assumed most household and child-care responsibilities, while husbands have taken the responsibility of providing income for the family.

While men are changing the diapers, wielding the mop, and tending the stove more often than ever before, it usually isn’t nearly enough. In dual-career marriages, men, on average do less than half as much child care and housework as their working wives.

As most women have figured out by now, men are not very motivated to do housekeeping. Many husbands think that any effort to help with household responsibilities represents a monumental sacrifice. But from the wife’s perspective, he is simply doing a small part of his fair share of the work. In many of these marriages, the husband demands that the wife do most of the work, and the wife demands that the husband do it. Neither feels it is their responsibility.