The Division of Labor among Cohabiting and Married Couples

The time spent on household labor, and the traditionality and role specialization in the division of such labor are compared using matched samples of married and cohabiting college men and women. Women of both groups are still taking most of the responsibility for, and performing most of, the household tasks. Married couples are significantly more traditional in the performance of household tasks than cohabiting couples, although they are not different in the distribution of responsibility. Three hypotheses, ideology-socialization, power-authority and time available, are proposed to explain the division of labor. It seems clear that the persistence of the traditional division of labor among both cohabiting and married couples is neither the outcome of a power struggle, nor the differential availability of time. Rather, it is the nonconscious ideology developed from parental modeling that preserves traditional sex roles.