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Is sharing housework the key to marital bliss?

Building on previous research about the link between household chores and happy relationships, a new study finds that the key is in agreeing from the get-go on how the work should be divided.

Several studies have suggested that splitting household chores can go a long way toward maintaining a happy marriage, including a 2012 Swedish study that found when domestic chores weren't divided evenly, women especially wound up suffering an emotional strain. 

The idea of an even split is also promoted by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who is known for encouraging couples to aim for a "50/50" approach to childcare and household tasks.

Now a University of Illinois study finds that while sharing the work can go far in a relationship, the chances for marital bliss are highest when a husband and wife have the same belief in how chores should be divided. 

Researchers studied the beliefs, behaviors, and marital quality of 220 heterosexual newlywed couples and, like the 2012 study, found that dividing household tasks affected wives' marital satisfaction but not their husbands'. 

Particularly, wives who valued equal sharing of housework were notably happier if their husbands shared those beliefs, pointing to the importance of coming to an understanding early on.

"Newlyweds need to thoughtfully plan how they can make their expectations about sharing chores work out in real life, especially if the new spouses strongly value gender equality in household labor," said study co-author Brian G. Ogolsky. 

He suggested getting the negotiating out of the way in the first two years of marriage, before long-term patterns are set.

"The most satisfied couples have similar expectations and follow through on them," Ogolsky said.

A 2013 study from Brigham Young University suggested a helpful way to keep the peace, finding wives were more satisfied with the division of household labor when they actually did the work -- whether dishes, laundry or bedtime stories -- side-by-side with their husbands. 

Meanwhile, a study published last year in the American Sociological Review found that husbands who took on more traditionally feminine tasks such as cleaning and laundry reported having less sex than their counterparts who handled jobs such as lawn work and auto maintenance.

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