Big Story: Ending the Chore Wars -- how to get your mate to help on the home front
Chore Wars: The great marital divide By all accounts, I got lucky. My husband not only brings home his share of the bacon, but he also fries it up, scrubs the pan, and puts it away. If I'm as fortunate to have such an equitable partner as my friends say I am, then why after eight years together do we still argue over whose turn it is to take out the garbage? The short answer, it appears, is kids. Before having children, most couples find it easier to maintain a neat house and to keep bickering about unmade beds at bay. But having kids means having more clutter to clear, loads of laundry to do, and more meals to make, and it's moms who bear most of the burden: Working women spend about twice as much time as working men on household chores and the care of the children, according to a recent time-use survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not surprisingly, the housework gender gap is a common source of friction: A recent BabyCenter survey of more than 12,000 re