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After First Baby, Husband's
Share of Housework Key
Excerpt
By Amy Norton, Reuter's Health
NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - After the arrival of baby,
new fathers can help hold on to marital harmony by picking up
a broom more often, according to new research.
Researchers in the Netherlands found
that among the new parents they followed for 2 years, wives and
husbands often fell into traditional gender roles after the birth
of their baby. Overall, wives took on more housework and bore
the brunt of child care, while cutting back on work outside the
home.
And while both men and women generally
felt this division of labor was "relatively fair"--albeit harder
on the wife--women were far more likely to have a sense of fairness
when their husbands took on more household chores.
"The husband's contribution to housework
is what causes perceptions of unfairness (in the marriage) the
most," the study's lead author, Esther S. Kluwer of Utrecht University,
told Reuters Health. "Couples need to discuss this particular
issue."
Feelings of fairness in the "division
of labor" after a baby arrives are vital to marriage, according
to Kluwer. A spouse who feels he or she is doing the bulk of the
work in and out of the home may become dissatisfied with the relationship
as a whole.
In the study, nearly 300 couples having
their first baby answered questions before the birth, and when
the baby was 6 and 15 months old. Participants reported how much
work they did in and out of the home at each point in time, as
well as how "well off" they felt they were compared with their
spouses and with their peers. Couples also gave details on how
they worked out conflicts over the division of labor.
Kluwer's team found that the husband's
contribution to housework was the top factor in whether wives
felt a sense of fairness. But women, unlike their husbands, also
put much stock in the process of doling out chores. For them,
discussing how the work will get done is an important part of
feeling the ultimate division of labor is fair, according to the
researchers.
"It is more important for wives than
for husbands that conflicts are handled in a constructive manner,"
Kluwer said. "Husbands need to sit down and talk with their wives
about these issues."
SOURCE: Journal of Marriage and Family
2002;64:930-943.
Reference
Source 89
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