Division of household tasks and union stability in a gender-egalitarian context : The case of Sweden

Abstract: This study looks at the relationship between the division of household tasks, satisfaction with the household division and the intention/potential intention to break-up in Sweden as a gender-egalitarian context with a high proportion of family dissolution. The framework of the study is relative deprivation theory. The data analyzed is extracted from the Generation and Gender Survey Wave 1 for Sweden. The sample size of the study is 2,170 persons including married and cohabiting heterosexuals with an age range of 20–49 years and the tool of analysis is logistic regression. We find that equal sharing of household tasks is common in Sweden however gender inequality has remained a concern. Our findings highlight that equality in the division of household tasks does not play an important role in family stability but perception of fairness regarding the division of household tasks is the important factor. Our findings also show that married persons and couples in which one of them is on parental leave have lower intention/potential intention of breakup.