Couples’ division of household responsibilities during COVID-19, perceptions of fairness, and relationship functioning.

Abstract

As couples adapted to the stressful, pandemic-induced disruptions to daily life (e.g., closures of schools, working from home), many couples experienced changes to established divisions of paid and household labor. The present study investigates whether contributions to household responsibilities and perceptions of fairness in divisions of labor are associated with couple relationship satisfaction and disagreements. Gender, number of children in a family, and financial stress during the pandemic are included as moderators. Four hundred seventy-nine participants (52.8% women; ages 19-72, M age = 34.54) in the United States completed an online survey as part of a larger study on couples coping with COVID-19. Linear mixed models showed that women, compared to men, reported doing more household responsibilities, with a widening gender gap based on the presence and number of children, and reported lower fairness. For women, the association between responsibilities and relationship disagreements increased with greater financial stress. Fairness was related to positive relationship outcomes; however, number of children moderated the strength of this association in different directions for women and men. Financial stress also increased the association between fairness and relationship functioning. Results underscore the importance of how couples manage their everyday household responsibilities and, especially, how their perceptions of fairness affect relationship outcomes. The extent to which these findings generalize beyond the pandemic to family life more generally remains to be determined, but the results suggest that the division of responsibilities and fairness, particularly during times of stress and upheaval, are putatively important and protective relationship elements. Public Significance StatementApproximately 1 year into the COVID-19 pandemic, perceived fairness in the division of household responsibilities had a protective role for couple relationship functioning, particularly for women, couples with children, and couples experiencing financial stress. Although it is yet unknown whether these results extend to other time periods, working toward a division of responsibilities perceived as fair can be a meaningful goal for couple and family therapists, and for couples themselves.

Lesbian and heterosexual Spanish and Swedish couples: Division of labor and life‐satisfaction

“…Thus, greater life satisfaction was reported by mothers who had co‐responsible partners and who felt satisfied with the distribution of housework, the amount of free time available to them and the childcare resources to which they had access. This is consistent with both our initial hypothesis and that reported in the extant literature (Ciciolla & Luthar, 2019; Ryjova et al, 2022; Tornello, 2020; Tornello et al, 2015). Conversely, those who perceived to have more problems related to work‐life balance also had lower levels of life satisfaction, in line with what has been found to date (Haar et al, 2014; Riva et al, 2019).…”

“…Given the results outlined above, it is hardly surprising that certain differences were also observed in the whole sample in terms of life satisfaction. The mothers with same-sex partners in our study reported a higher level of life satisfaction than those with different-sex partners, which is consistent with their higher level of satisfaction with the distribution of housework and childcare, a relationship repeatedly found in the scientific literature (Ciciolla & Luthar, 2019;Ryjova et al, 2022;Tornello, 2020;Tornello et al, 2015). It is also not surprising that the Swedish mothers in our study reported higher levels of life satisfaction than their Spanish counterparts.…”

“…The fact that it was not those variables that reflected the true situation regarding distribution, but rather interviewees' satisfaction with said situation that was associated with life satisfaction, suggests that it is individuals' subjective interpretation of reality that is the determining factor. This has been found previously by studies analyzing the effect of this on increased psychological wellbeing (Ryjova et al, 2022;Tornello, 2020;Tornello et al, 2015), and those demonstrating that perceived lack of fairness and equality in task distribution was associated with an increase in psychological distress indicators (Claffey & Mickelson, 2009;Goldberg & Perry-Jenkins, 2004;Tornello, 2020).…”

“…The division of labor in the couple has also been related to psychological well‐being of its members. Empirical evidence indicates that being in an equal romantic partnership with a fair distribution of tasks or, on the contrary, having an unfair and disproportionate distribution of household labor has consequences for individual and relational well‐being (Ciciolla & Luthar, 2019; Ryjova et al, 2022; Sutphin, 2010).…”

“…Interestingly, the extant scientific literature suggests that it is not a fair or unfair distribution of housework and childcare in objective terms that impacts psychological well‐being or distress, but rather the individual's subjective perception of the fairness or unfairness of this distribution. One is more likely to find evidence of anxiety, depression or psychological distress among women who feel that the distribution of housework and childcare in their family is unfair (Claffey & Mickelson, 2009; Goldberg & Perry‐Jenkins, 2004; Haar et al, 2014), and more likely to find evidence of psychological well‐being among those who claim to feel satisfied with said distribution (Ryjova et al, 2022; Tornello, 2020; Tornello et al, 2015).…”