Couples Who Share Chores Have More Sex

More housework equals more sex, a new study shows, though watchers are split on why that is. Two answers quickly spring up: For one, active folks tend to pour their energy into all pursuits. “This group of go-getters seem to make sex a priority,” a researchers tells the Wall Street Journal. And then there’s the mushier reason: housework “makes the couple remember why they are married,” a writer says, “to be on the same team.”

Whatever the reason, the numbers don’t lie—72% of people today credit shared chores with helping a happy marriage, up from 47% in 1990. But why is maddeningly hard to pin down. Some feel a clean house is more conducive to intimacy—while others think housework can eclipse the spark. “Before you know it, it's one in the morning and you haven't spent any time with your spouse,” a perplexed wife says. To add to the confusion, work away from the home also appears to make house-life more amorous. (More sex stories.)