Using data in the United States, UK and Germany, we show that women whose working hours exceed those of their male partners report lower life satisfaction on average. By contrast, men do not report lower life satisfaction from working more hours than their female partners. An analysis of possible mechanisms shows that in couples where the woman works more hours than the man, women do not spend significantly less time doing household chores. Women with egalitarian ideologies are likely to perceive this unequal division of labour as unfair, ultimately reducing their life satisfaction. ? 2020 Elsevier B.V.

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1 August 2020

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Labour Economics 652020

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DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2020.101866

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0927537120300701?via%3Dihub

This Journal article is published under the centre's Community Wellbeing programme.