Gender, Power, and Parenthood: Predictors of Relationship Satisfaction Among Women Partnered With Women vs. Men

Women in different-gender relationships do more household labor than their partners, which is linked with lower relationship satisfaction. These dynamics are influenced by parental status, with mothers doing more household labor than women without children, and partner gender, such that unequal labor division arrangements is more negatively related to satisfaction for women partnered men than women partnered with women. A sample of cisgender women ( N = 227) in long-term romantic relationships with women ( n = 102) or men ( n = 125) were surveyed on their division of household labor, their degree of couple decision-making power, and their relationship satisfaction. Findings revealed that mothers in different-gender couples bear a significantly greater household labor burden compared to any other group in our sample, including mothers partnered with women and women without children. Group path analysis revealed that this labor division imbalance negatively related to women's relationship satisfaction. Moreover, decision-making power was a significant predictor of relationship satisfaction for all groups, except mothers partnered with men. Findings shed light on the manifestation of gender roles in relationships when considering both partner gender and parental status.