Gay couples share chores more equally, says study

Same-sex couples divide household and childcare responsibilities more fairly than mixed-sex couples, according to a new report on the division of labor in the home published by the Families and Work Institute.

The study, Modern Families: Same- and Different-Sex Couples Negotiating at Home, found that same-sex couples where both partners have jobs were more likely to share chores equally, and more likely to communicate with one another about how to divide household tasks.

Dual-income mixed-sex couples, meanwhile, were more likely to divide chores based on stereotypical masculine and feminine roles (such as financial management or cooking), and were less likely to explicitly discuss the division of chores in advance

As well as gender, the study found that income and work hours also determine which roles are assumed by which partner in straight relationships. But even these non-gender-based factors were less likely to determine how chores are allocated by gay couples.

The study, which was sponsored by PwC, concludes that couples’ satisfaction with the division of household tasks is driven mainly by whether they discuss the subject when they first move in together, and that satisfaction is lowest where partners stay silent.

Leslie Stratton has written for IZA World of Labor on the determinants of housework time. She writes that: “Efforts to reduce the gender wage gap and alter gendered norms of behavior should reduce the gender bias in household production time and reduce inefficiency in home production. Policymakers should also note the impact of tax policy on housework time and consider ways to reduce the distortions caused by sales and income taxes.”

The journalist Brigid Schulte has also written an opinion piece for us about her personal experience of the gendered division of labor in the home. She argues that governments should promote shared parental leave in order to encourage equal division of labor in the home, and ultimately equality in the workplace.

Read more on this story at the Washington Post’s Wonkblog. The full report can be downloaded here.