Norwegian researchers: dividing housework raises risk for divorce

A recent survey carried out in Norway has suggested that the risk of divorce is much higher when males do an equal amount or more housework than their female partners.

The news comes via a study results released on 26 September by the Norwegian Social Research institute (NOVA), which said that divorce risk increases nearly 50 per cent in homes where the burden of housework is divided evenly. Moreover, the figures revealed that the chances of a breakup climb to a whopping 78 per cent in homes where the male does the majority of such chores.

Other figures released in the report reveal that women do nearly all of the housework in about 15 per cent of Norwegian households, and to the surprise of some, these females were happy with the scenario in about 60 per cent of cases.

Researcher Thomas Hansen said on behalf of NOVA, “We cannot rule out that it’s about predictable and defined roles at home. In more equal homes, where tasks are shared, perhaps it is easier to notice the partner’s lack of effort. The partner getting stuck in is appreciated if the roles are less defined,” the VG news agency reports.

Talking about the findings, Sissel Gran, an Oslo-based relationship counselor, said, “There are very few who love housework, and the hard fighting over who should [take] care of that in a busy life can be partly blamed for living together becoming difficult. Modern life is not exactly on the side of passion and romance, and the spark may soon be put out by negotiations over who should do what and when,” TheForeigner.no reports.