10.1177/0192513X04270473JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / April 2005Baxter / MARIT L STATU AND HOUSEHOLD DIVISION OF LABOR To Marry or Not to Marry Marital Status and the Household Division of Labor

patterns among de facto and married men and women. The results show that women spend more time on housework and do a greater proportion of housework than men. However, the patterns are most traditional among married men and women. Women in de facto relation-ships spend less time doing housework and do a smaller proportion of indoor activities than married women. Men in de facto relationships do a larger proportion of indoor activities and a lower proportion of outdoor tasks than married men. The data also show that couples who have cohabited prior to marriage have more egalitarian divisions of labor than those who have not cohabited prior to marriage. This article concludes by arguing that the incompleteness of the de facto relationship provides a period of relative freedom in which to negotiate more equal roles