Over the weekend I found myself doing something that could end up ruining my marriage. The guilt is overwhelming, so I have to confess. I was …………. unloading the dishwasher. My wife hates doing it, so I often do the chore to make her happy. Turns out it may be sending us down the road to Splitsville, if a new study is correct.
Divorce more likely if couples share housework, says study.
The Norwegian study is throwing conventional wisdom out the window. We used to think that sharing housework, such as vacuuming and scrubbing toilets and cleaning up the kitchen, will, if anything, reduce the odds of divorce. But this new study found the divorce rate among couples who shared housework equally was about 50 percent higher than among those where the woman did most of the work.
I’ve read the results of enough studies to know there has to be a “Are you kidding me?” factor to make it newsworthy. My reaction (and probably yours) to this recent study is, “Are you kidding me? The more men help out at home, the greater the chance of splitting up?” There’s got to be a reasonable explanation for this. There is. Sort of.
After further review
Researchers say that the increased divorce rate has more to do with “modern” attitudes than a cause-and-effect relationship. In modern relationships where the housework is divided, “women also have a high level of education and a well-paid job, which makes them less dependent on their spouse financially. They can manage much easier if they divorce,” Thomas Hansen, co-author of the student entitled “Equality in the Home,” explained to news agency AFP.
As with most studies, you can throw the results out with the trash, which is something I’ll do as soon as I get home tonight honey.
The key there is the attitude. Do both spouses feel appreciated? Do both feel like the other is doing their part? Do they still have time for “relations” or are they too tired?
What a joke! Maybe it’s because couples do not have long, long, long marriages like we have. They never quite make it to the finish line. At the end of the line (so far almost 68 years of marriage—and yes, to one man!) we truly LOVE to help each other. In fact, it’s imperative! Mark, keep taking out the garbage and keep emptying the dishwasher. You’ll make it, too!
You should be safe Michelle says you do all the cleaning.
And we all know she is always right.