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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

household labor, child care, parenthood, first child, family unit

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

Abstract

The birth of a couple’s first child brings about more profound changes and challenges to the family unit than any other developmental stage (Vessey & Knauth, 2001). This transition has been associated with a deterioration of couple communication, sexual intimacy, and overall marital satisfaction with an increase in conflict (Cowan, 1995; Belsky & Pensky, 1988). A major contributor to the dramatic changes accompanying parenthood is the increase in household labor and child care responsibilities (Bond, Galinsky, & Swanberg, 1998; Cowan & Cowan, 1992). Conflicts over participation in household labor and perceptions of fairness in the home have been identified as primary predictors of marital satisfaction (Coltrane, 2000; Vessey & Knauth, 2001).

Included in

Sociology Commons

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