Have more sex by doing more housework

Sex and household chores are 2 of the most common topics US and Canadian couples disagree about (eHarmony study, 2010).  In fact, household chores were one of the top 3 sources of disagreement for couples in Brazil, the UK, and Australia.  Sex was a major source of disagreement for US, Canadian, and Australian couples.

Although these are major areas of conflict, they are also part of what makes a relationship function well.  Participants in the Pew Research study ranked faithfulness, sex, and sharing household chores as the most important qualities that make a marriage work (Pew Research study, 2007).

How are they related?  And what does this mean for men?

According to research, the more housework men do, the happier their wives are (CCF, 2008).  More housework done by men is associated with greater happiness and less conflict in the relationship (Coltrane, 2000).  And since sexual frequency increases with marital happiness (Call et al., 1995), more household chores means a happier relationship and, therefore, more sex.  In other words, if you are a man wanting more sex in your relationship, the vacuum cleaner could be your best ally.

What about for women?

Although across the globe men have been helping more around the house in recent years, women still retain the greater proportion of the burden, doing almost twice as much as men (Gager & Yabiku, 2010).  And research shows that women who report doing more housework report having more sex too.  Why?

The common misconception is that doing household chores, working, or taking care of the kids takes away from the time you could be having sex.  If this were true, people who spent more time cleaning, playing with kids, and working would spend less time getting busy in the bedroom.  However, research does not support this idea.  Instead findings show that more household chores are associated with more sex for both men and women (Gager & Yabiku, 2010).  It is possible that doing more inspires you to do more.  Or as Newton says, an object in motion stays in motion.

Further Reading:

Call, V., Sprecher, S., & Schwartz, P. (1995). The incidence and frequency of marital sex in a national sample Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57 (3) DOI: 10.2307/353919

Coltrane, S. (2000). Research on Household Labor: Modeling and Measuring the Social Embeddedness of Routine Family Work Journal of Marriage and Family, 62 (4), 1208-1233 DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.01208.x

Gager, C., & Yabiku, S. (2009). Who Has the Time? The Relationship Between Household Labor Time and Sexual Frequency Journal of Family Issues, 31 (2), 135-163 DOI: 10.1177/0192513X09348753