How to Divide Household Chores Fairly in Marriage

Dishes, laundry, yard work, cleaning, cooking… oh my! The chore list is long, and the questions are many.

Who does what? How do we make this fair? Am I doing too much? Why doesn’t my spouse do more?

A big part of marriage is managing and maintaining a house and all the responsibilities a home can bring. So, where do we begin?

Well, let’s rewind the clock to before you said “I Do.” We all enter marriage with expectations. What you may not realize is that those expectations were actually birthed in your childhood, for better or worse. How? To keep it simple, your expectations for managing a house and accomplishing chores are reflective of what you saw and experienced in your home as a child. 

Because of this, your view of chores is pretty emotionally-charged. Whether you’re aware of it or not, you probably have an entire belief system around how chores should be accomplished and who should be doing them. This makes marriage tricky because you and your spouse more than likely don’t share the same belief system about chores. Have you talked about how to divide household chores in your marriage?

The thing about expectations is they are often unspoken. If we don’t communicate what we expect, is it fair to get upset when those expectations aren’t met? No. No, it’s not. To avoid the drama, talk about it. Talk about it often.

So, chores aren’t the issue.

The issue is your view of chores. Now we’re getting somewhere. Peeling away those layers like an onion. It’s about mindset.

You may be thinking, “Wait a minute, I came here to figure out how to divide up chores. I want to know who’s cooking, who’s cleaning, who’s doing the dishes. How do we make this fair?” 

Your home belongs to the two of you, your family. You are both responsible for its upkeep. You’re a team; you’re in this together.

A 50/50 split is often not a reality. It’s usually not possible. Take into account the wholeness of your marriage as you determine who does what. 

I can’t tell you who needs to do what, but here are some ideas to steer the conversation about how to divide household chores. First and foremost, the two of you have to talk about it. 

Here are some questions you can ask each other:

• What are the chores? (Make a list of all of them.)
• What are your expectations for _______? (Insert the chore of your choice.)
• What housework do you enjoy doing?
• What are you already doing?
• How often should each chore be done?
• What are you good at?
• What chores are seasonal? 
• What’s important to you?
• Does one of you feel more responsible out of concern for how others view your home?

Addressing household chores isn’t a one-time conversation either. It needs to happen often. Different seasons of life bring different responsibilities. 

Here are some scenarios to think through as you talk about how to divide household chores fairly:

• You both are working full-time and focused on establishing your careers.
• You are expecting a child or have a child or children. (The seasons of childhood bring so many challenges.)
• One of you works from home.
• One of you is thinking about a career change.

There may be a season where one of you carries more household chores due to other circumstances. No matter what, you need to agree about what works for your family. You’ll want to discuss this often.

Once you divvy up the chore list, acknowledge what you own. To divide the chores means that you have to let go of control. Whoever is responsible owns the task. They aren’t helping out their spouse by doing it; it’s theirs. 

There is no formula for fairly dividing household chores. It all begins with a conversation… first with yourself, then with your spouse. The first step is self-awareness and reflection, followed by openness and communication with your spouse. You’re a team, and you can tackle all the chores together.

Other helpful blogs:

• Why Generosity Matters in Your Marriage
• Do You Have Realistic Expectations for Your Marriage?
• So, Your Spouse is Lazy. Here’s What to Do.