Women today tend to shoulder greater household responsibilities as their status in politics and society has risen. This is partially biological. Typically, women are pregnant for 40 weeks, after which they may continue to be the primary provider of nourishment for weeks, months, or even years, depending on their individual breastfeeding preferences.
But beyond that, women are more likely to handle the daily chaos of parenting. They take on extra housework, such as dinner preparation, running kids to and from school, attending PTA events, and scheduling doctor’s visits.
The Department of Labor Statistics reports that domestic chores are not distributed equally across American households. 83% of women and 65% of men spend some time on tasks including housework, cooking, maintaining the lawn, managing finances, and other domestic tasks on a typical day. Men spend 2.1 hours a day on these activities on average, compared to 2.6 hours for women. The dynamic, however, shifts in a marriage where the woman holds the higher-ranking, better-paying position, or at the very least one that is equally high-profile as her husband’s.
According to Monica McGrath, a consultant who focuses on the development of women’s leadership and adjunct professor of management at Wharton, even women who are in supportive relationships go through ongoing stress.
Many of the women I teach, who are aware of their desire for a job and who have been prepared for it, are in coparenting-friendly relationships with highly supportive partners. But there are concessions everywhere,” she claims. It’s not easy, and conflict frequently arises. Their marriage is marked by incessant haggling over who will do what and how much.
