Regardless of Gender, People Work Longer Hours If Their Partner Is a Woman

According to a recent study featured on WIA, women, on average, spend significantly more time on housework than men, despite spending similar hours on work responsibilities. A new study published in the American Sociological Review has expanded on this research, discovering that both men and women spend less time on housework and childcare and more time on work when their romantic partner is a woman.

For their study, the authors examined a sample of 2,871 men and 2,101 women in the Netherlands who had, in separate instances, romantic relationships with both a man and woman partner between 1995 and 2020. Their analysis revealed that, regardless of their own gender, when individuals were in a romantic partnership with a woman, they worked more hours than individuals in relationships with men. On average, women with women partners worked 7 more hours per month and men with women partners worked 21 more hours per month.

Furthermore, the study found differences in time spent on childcare between men and women with women partners. Women were significantly more likely to reduce their working hours to increase their time dedicated to childcare. However, this reduction in time spent on work was smaller when their partner was a woman. In comparison, having a child did not result in a significant change to men’s working hours, regardless of their partner’s gender.

The authors theorize “that this pattern is due to an orientation toward producing not only one’s own gender identity by performing gender-typed tasks, but also to the partner’s gender identity by protecting their production of gender-typed tasks. This double orientation works both ways and leads to the continuous co-production of genders within a relationship.”

However, the authors believe further research in this area is needed. Considering their study only followed bisexual individuals from the Netherlands, future studies could benefit from examining individuals with different sexual orientations, countries of origin, cultural backgrounds, career fields, and income levels.