Relationships and Health 4132000). In 2008, men participated in 30% of
household labor, compared to 15% in the
1960s (Sullivan & Coltrane, 2008). In 2008,
men said that they shared or did most of the
cooking in 56% of households (Galinsky,
Aumann, & Bond, 2009). In 1992, the figure
was 34%. In a study of six countries across
Europe and North America, women’s do-
mestic labor decreased by one hour per day
between 1960 and 1997, whereas men’s in-
creased by 20 minutes (Sullivan, 2004).
One way to examine the influence of
gender roles on the division of labor is to
explore how gay and lesbian couples divide
household labor. Is it always the case that one
person performs the traditionally masculine
chores (e.g., mow the lawn, take out the gar-
bage) and one person performs the tradition-
ally feminine chores (e.g., prepare the meal,
wash the dishes)? The answer is “no.” The
traditional male–female roles in regard to
the division of labor do not apply to homo-
sexual couples. There is a more equal division
of labor in gay and lesbian couples compared
to heterosexuals (Peplau & Fingerhut, 2007),
in part due to the more egalitarian division
of labor outside the home. Whereas men are
more likely than women to work full time in
traditional heterosexual marriages, both part-
ners are likely to work full time in gay and
lesbian relationships. In gay and lesbian re-
lationships, personal preference rather than
gender roles dictates who does what in the
household.
How does parenthood affect the di-
vision of labor in same-sex relationships?
One study showed that household labor was
divided equally between two lesbian partners
but the biological mother spent more time
on childcare than the nonbiological mother
(Goldberg & Perry-Jenkins, 2007). Another
study of Black lesbian relationships showed
that biological mothers performed more
household chores than nonbiological mothersEven when women are employed full time,
women contribute more to household la-
bor than men do (Gager, 2008). A survey
of U.S. couples who each worked at least
30 hours outside of the home showed that
wives spent 34 hours on household labor
and husbands spent 21 hours on house-
hold labor per week (Bartley, Blanton,
& Gilliard, 2005). Even a study of self-
proclaimed feminists married to transgen-
dered men showed that women do more
household labor than men (Pfeffer, 2010).
Because the majority (93%) of these women
identify themselves as feminists, they typi-
cally rationalized the unequal arrangement
by stating that they were more skilled at
household labor or that they were choos-
ing to engage in these activities. In a cross-
cultural study of 25 European countries,
women spent three times the amount of
time on domestic work as men—19 hours
compared to 6 (Boye, 2009). However,
when men and women engaged in paid em-
ployment were compared, the difference
was smaller—14.5 compared to 6.
Sex differences in household labor are
larger among married than cohabiting indi-
viduals. Marriage leads women and men to
enact traditional roles (Judge & Livingston,
2008). Whereas cohabiting women perform
fewer household chores than married women,
cohabiting men perform more household
chores than married men (Coltrane, 2000).
Parenthood also leads to a decrease in egali-
tarian beliefs (Corrigall & Konrad, 2007) and
an increase in a more traditional division of
labor—especially for women (Katz-Wise,
Priess, & Hyde, 2010).
Admittedly, the size of the sex differ-
ence in household labor and child care has
decreased over the past four decades, mostly
due to women spending less time on such
activities and partly due to men spend-
ing more time on such activities (Coltrane,M11_HELG0185_04_SE_C11.indd 413 6/21/11 12:43 PM