Stalled for Whom? Change in the Division of Particular Housework Tasks and Their Consequences for Middle-to Low-Income Couples

Abstract

Whether the gender revolution has transformed couple behavior across all social classes is the subject of ongoing scholarly debate. The authors explore cohort change in the performance of individual routine and nonroutine housework tasks among middle-to low-income couples as well as their association with several aspects of relationship quality. Data are from the second wave (1992–1994) of the National Survey of Families and Households and the 2006 Marital and Relationship Survey. Contrary to arguments of a stalled gender revolution, the authors find that contemporary couples more often share all routine tasks (other than shopping) than couples in the past, with the greatest change in dishwashing and laundry. The equal sharing of housework is more positively related to sexual intimacy and relationship satisfaction among more recent cohorts and more negatively related to marital discord. The division of dishwashing, among all tasks, is most consequential to relationship quality, especially for women.