Looking for Mr. Clean (and Single)

So, does the new research mean marriage automatically translates into dirty dishes? Davis's study did not follow unmarried couples through marriage; she only looked at unmarried and married individuals separately. But in a separate study, Sunjiv Gupta, a sociology professor at the University of Massachusetts, did follow that progression in a longitudinal study. He did not find much of a change between pre-married and married life. "Not much happens," says Gupta.

Instead of avoiding vows, Chethik suggests that couples should create a clear list of each spouse's household responsibilities. The payoff can be big for both partners; Chethik found that when women are happier with the division of household labors, the couple has a more active sex life. "If men are interested in keeping their sex life vibrant, they may help to wash the dishes and vacuum every now and then," he says. (For those who want to get technical: Chethik's research with 300 American husbands found that when their spouses were satisfied with their housework contribution, the couple averaged one more sexual encounter per month.) Clean and happy: what more could a loving couple want?

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