When married men are actively involved in household chores and childcare both partners see the relationship as happier and more satisfying, according to a new university study.
Researchers from the University of Missouri surveyed 160 couples who had been married for an average of five years and had at least one child, studying the way they divided childcare and household responsibilities.
Researcher Adam Galovan said:
“The more wives perceived that husbands were engaged in routine family work tasks, the better the relationships were for both partners. Wives in our study viewed father involvement and participation in household chores as related.”
He added:
“Doing household chores and being engaged with the children seem to be important ways for husbands to connect with their wives, and that connection is related to better couple relationships.”
Women especially appreciate the active involvement of fathers, said Professor Galovan.
“When wives felt their husbands were close to their children, both spouses reported better marriages. The father-child bond was particularly important for wives.”
Approximately 40 per cent of the wives featured in the study had full or part time jobs.
The study, entitled Father Involvement, Father-Child Relationship Quality, and Satisfaction With Family Work: Actor and Partner Influences on Marital Quality, appeared in the Journal of Family Issues.
Actually the latest research shows the opposite – the more men do around the house the more likely it is for a couple to divorce – I don’t know why this is so don’t blame me !
They suspect the real reason is that division of labour works best – where a couple has clear demarcation and clarity of their role within the marriage the stronger it is – but this is just a suspicion – nobody knows for sure.