Marriage and Family | The Roles of Husbands and Wives

Dividing Household Tasks

The Roles of Husbands and Wives

It is a common fact of life that we live in a society where it generally takes two paychecks to make it. Therefore, we need to think about dividing household tasks.

Here are some tips for managing the stress that a dual-earner marriage creates.

  1. Wake-up time.
    • Get to bed earlier and get up earlier.
    • Get ready before waking others.
    • Have children make their own lunches.
    • Coordinate and share morning tasks with your spouse.
    • Take time for breakfast.
    • Reward yourself for arriving at work on time.
  2. After work/dinner time.
    • Transition with a change of clothes.
    • Take time to listen and debrief about each other’s day.
    • Prepare meals together.
    • Sit down for dinner together at the table.
    • Allow each other some time alone.
    • Share clean up of the dishes and the house.
    • Make the next day’s lunches.
  3. Cleanup/bedtime.
    • Stick with an agreed TV cut-off time.
    • Do a few maintenance chores daily (bills, dusting, etc.).
    • Arrange items that you need to access in the morning in a familiar place.
    • Plan and lay out what to wear tomorrow.

This course was originally taught by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr. at Ohio Valley University.

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