What Wives Want
A new study based on a survey of 5,000 couples across the country has determined that women whose husbands bring home more than 68 percent of the bacon are the most content.
“Regardless of what married women say they believe about gender, they tend to have happier marriages when their husband is a good provider — provided that he is also emotionally engaged,” said W. Bradford Wilcox, a University of Virginia sociologist. “I was very surprised to find that even egalitarian-minded women are happier when their marriages are organized along more gendered lines.”
Women who perceive that housework is shared in a fair manner consider themselves happier partners. Fair in this case does not necessarily mean splitting housework evenly — most of the women in this happier category perform the majority of household chores themselves. But because they believe that their husbands are playing an important role as providers, they view the unequal work split as fair.
The findings are detailed in the journal Social Forces.
“How to Make Your Wife Happy,” by Sara Goudarzi