Housework, Fairness, and Breadwinning: How Do They Affect Older Married Women’s and Men’s Sexual Satisfaction?

• In Event: 2351 - Section on the Sociology of Sex and Gender Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 2. Gender and Household Division of Labor

Abstract

This study seeks to better distinguish how the division of household labor, perceptions of fairness surrounding the division of household labor, and married women’s and men’s relative earnings (particularly married women’s “breadwinning”) affect women’s and men’s sexual frequency and sexual satisfaction. A number of studies have examined the effect of the division of household labor (Barstad 2014; Frisco and Williams 2003; Pina and Bengtson 1993), perceptions of fairness (Frisco and Williams 2003; Goldberg and Perry-Jenkins 2004), and breadwinning (Rogers and DeBoer 2001; Brennan, Barnett, and Gareis 2001) on relationship/marital quality/satisfaction, but to date there have been no cross-sectional analyses that have explored the effect on sexual frequency and sexual satisfaction. Most research has also focused on younger women and men who are in their childbearing and rearing years. In contrast, the current study is one of the first to analyze the household division of labor and sexual satisfaction for a sample of Americans who are in middle to later life. The findings from this study will broaden our understanding of gender, sexuality, and marital well-being among older adults.
Ongoing changes in workplace and family dynamics have resulted in the rise of dual-earner couples (Brennan, Barnett, and Gareis 2001; Haddock and Rattenborg 2003), an increase in gender egalitarianism in the home (Kornrich, Brines, and Leupp 2012), and the rise in female breadwinning (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2013). Given these changes, it is crucial to fully understand the correlates of sexual frequency and sexual satisfaction among married couples. This research topic is particularly important because sexual frequency declines with age (James 1981), so it’s important to explore what other factors might be correlated with these variables. In addition, sexual satisfaction is a key component to both relationship happiness (Yoo et al. 2014) and overall satisfaction with life (Dogan, Tugut, and Golbasi 2013). Despite a plethora of research on this topic, key questions remain unanswered.

Author

• Kirsten Kemmerer, University of New Hampshire