OSLO, Norway, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A Norwegian study found that modern couples who share housework are more likely to divorce than couples where the woman does most of the chores.
The divorce rate among couples who shared housework equally was around 50 percent higher than among those where the woman did most of the work, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.
"What we've seen is that sharing equal responsibility for work in the home doesn't necessarily contribute to contentment," said Thomas Hansen, co-author of the study called "Equality in the Home." "One would think that break-ups would occur more often in families with less equality at home, but our statistics show the opposite."
Hansen suggested the reason behind the findings came from the values of "modern" couples rather than the chores they shared.
"Modern couples are just that, both in the way they divide up the chores and in their perception of marriage" as being less sacred, Mr Hansen said. "In these modern couples, women also have a high level of education and a well-paid job, which makes them less dependent on their spouse financially. They can manage much easier if they divorce."
Norway has a long tradition of gender equality, however, when it comes to housework, women in Norway still do most of it in seven out of 10 couples.
