It’s no secret that women spend more time on household and domestic chores than men. Recent research highlights an even wider gap among…
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If women earn more than their husbands, they also do more housework
An economics researcher at the University of Bath conducted a study of more than 6,600 American heterosexual couples to come to this alarming conclusion.
A paradoxical result
If one would expect that the one with the highest salary devotes more time to his professional life than personal, so as to maximize the earnings of the couple, this is not the case. Generally the unequal distribution of tasks within the household means lower wages for women. Moreover, 23% of women earn less than men in France, for all jobs combined.
How to explain these numbers?
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The culprit must be found in the influence of gender norms. These norms want men to support their families: what can happen is that when men earn less than women, couples neutralize this through domestic work. In other words, women do more and men less, in order to compensate for this ‘abnormal’ situation by complying with other traditional gender norms. “, explains Joanna Syrda, at the origin of the study.
Not all couples are affected
These behaviors have been observed in married couples with children. Couples without children have a “rational” economic behavior, so the one who earns the least does the most cleaning. According to Joanna Syrda, parenthood has a ” traditionalizing effect when we talk regarding the distribution of domestic work.
In France, women still spend 3h45 of domestic chores once morest 2h15 for men, daily, according to the OECD.
Also to discover: Sharing household chores: it is this chore that women take on the most in the couple
A source of stress for men
Another study from the University of Bath points to another problem. When men are solely responsible for all household income, their stress levels increase. When their wife assumes more than 40% of the family income, these same men say they are just as stressed at 40%. Worse still, when they become totally financially independent of their partner, they say they are very anxious.