LIVE-IN BOYFRIENDS DO MORE HOUSEWORK THAN MARRIED MEN:

Men who live with their girlfriends do more housework than do married men, while, conversely, married women do more housework than do women who live with their boyfriends, according to surveys gathered in 2002 from 28 countries that were analyzed by scientists.

Co-researcher Shannon Davis, a sociologist at George Mason University, said, "Marriage as an institution seems to have a traditionalizing effect on couples -- even couples who see men and women as equal." There were other factors that also affected the division of housework, with men who earned more than their partners doing fewer hours of housework than those with lower relative incomes, and couples who viewed men and women as equals more likely to divide the chores up equally.