How changes in the distribution of housework and the perception of fairness affect sexual satisfaction and sexual frequency: Distribution of household tasks does not improve sexual satisfaction or sexual frequency

Sex and housework: Does perceived fairness of the distribution of housework actually matter? Kristin Hajek. Zeitschrift für Familienforschung, 31. Jahrg., 2019, Heft 1 ‒ Journal of Family Research https://doi.org/10.3224/zff.v31i1.05

Abstract: Recent findings suggest that couples who perceive their housework distribution to be fair have more frequent sexual encounters and are more satisfied with their sex life. However, past research has relied on between-person comparisons and might therefore be biased due to unobserved confounders. By applying fixed effects panel models, this study seeks to eliminate all time-constant, group-specific heterogeneity. Using data from 1,315 cohabiting and married couples from the German Family Panel (pairfam), I have examined how changes in the distribution of housework and the perception of fairness affect sexual satisfaction and sexual frequency. Moreover, I distinguish between core (traditionally female) and non-core (traditionally male) household tasks to verify the hypothesis that a gender-stereotypic distribution of household tasks fosters sexual activity. No effect of the division of labor or the perception of fairness thereof on sexual satisfaction and sexual frequency could be found.

Key words: housework distribution, fixed effects, pairfam, perceived fairness, sexual frequency, sexual satisfaction

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1. Introduction
More often than not, housework is distributed traditionally between men and women in cohabiting relationships (Bianchi et al. 2012). Over the past few decades, men’s share of housework has increased, but women still tend to carry most of the workload in the home (Bianchi et al. 2000; Bianchi et al. 2012; Blair/Lichter 1991; Klünder/Meier-Gräwe 2018). Moreover, studies show that partnership characteristics are influenced by the dis-tribution of unpaid family work. For example, if the man’s share of housework increases, the woman’s partnership satisfaction seems to rise and conflicts occur less often (Amato et al. 2003; Coltrane 2000). The likelihood for second births is also higher if the father participates to a greater degree in housework and child care (Cooke 2004). Therefore, an equal distribution of housework could be beneficial to a partnership. On the other hand, some researchers suggest that it is actually the perceived fairness of the division of labor that influences partnership satisfaction, rather than the actual distribution of household tasks (Coltrane 2000). If individuals perceive their share of housework to be justified, they appear to be happier with their relationship (Coltrane 2000). However, relatively few studies to date have addressed how exactly housework distribution and the perceived fair-ness thereof influence a couple’s sexual relationship.

Sexual frequency and satisfaction are both important factors in an intimate relation-ship. Sexuality has been found to be related to marital satisfaction (Smith et al. 2011) as well as union stability (Yabiku/Gager 2009). Therefore, it is important to examine possible influences of housework on a couple’s sex life. Since the Kinsey reports (Kinsey et al. 1948), the frequency of sexual intercourse and sexual satisfaction in relationships have received considerable attention in the social sciences. However, due to the lack of longitudinal data, the majority of studies has relied on cross-sectional analyses. Kornrich and colleagues (2013) examined married couples in the United States and found a positive correlation between a gender-stereotypic division of housework and sexual frequency. However, they analyzed decades-old, cross-sectional data and did not take into account the perceived fairness of a couple’s housework distribution. 

Using data from the German Family Panel (pairfam), a randomly sampled panel sur-vey with focus on partnership and family dynamics, I have examined how changes in the distribution of housework and the perception of fairness affect sexual frequency and sex-ual satisfaction for cohabiting and married couples from a longitudinal perspective. Johnson and colleagues (2016) also analyzed pairfam data in this regard with autoregressive cross-lagged (ARCL) models. They found an association between men’s perceived fair-ness of housework distribution and a couple’s sex life, but no association to the actual distribution of housework. However, Johnson and colleagues did not distinguish between core (traditionally female) and non-core (traditionally male) tasks as suggested by Kornrich et al. (2013), and thus cannot fully refute the findings of Kornrich and colleagues (2013). By categorizing household tasks into traditionally male and female, the following analyses aim to verify the hypothesis that a gender-stereotypic distribution of household tasks stimulates sexual scripts and leads to an increase in sexual intercourse. Further, both studies mentioned above may be biased due to unobserved heterogeneity, with one rely-ing on between-person comparisons and the other not differentiating between and within variation. By applying fixed effects regression models, I can eliminate all couple-specific time-constant heterogeneity and examine whether a change in the division of household labor and/or the perception of fairness thereof actually influences sexual satisfaction and frequency in intimate relationships.