What isn't being highlighted in all this chore-sharing talk is something else, however. The old views of marriage are, quite simply, changing, and sharing housework is more likely representative of that rather than causal to any split. He says, "I think gender equality will continue to grow in Norway. We are leading internationally in terms of attitudes toward gender equality and practice" including chore-sharing at home and men being more involved. "Two facts suggest even more gender equality in the future," he says. "First, younger generations are more gender equal than older ones. Second, gender equality is strongly linked with the woman's educational level (and social class more generally). The fact that new generations of women are far better educated than older ones suggest a movement toward (even) more gender equality at home. Women especially are the happiest with their relationship when housework and childcare is divided equally. For this reason (and for a number of other reasons, related to gender equality outside of the home, and moral/normative issues), I recommend continued emphasis on gender equality in social policy, for example." He adds, though, that it's all up to us as individuals (coupled or not) to find our own happiness: "it seems that most couples find a balance at home that suits them, and with which they are content."

Over the weekend, there was a piece in The New York Times talking about, again, the ways that we may attempt to do marriage differently to suit our contemporary lives and needs. It's worth a read, whether you buy into the idea of a short-term marriage contract or not (and I don't think this is the answer, for the record) because, clearly, we're going to keep talking about this and keep figuring things out along the way. When it comes to the studies, though, let's remember to consider our sources and learn as much as we can before buying into any headline whole cloth. Also, take turns doing the laundry; nobody wants to fold the socks all the time.

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