Years ago, I made all the money for the household and my wife did all the chores. She contributed in the form of time and labor, and I essentially did so as well, just with an employer as an intermediary. This was fair and everyone was happy.
Then my wife got bored being at home all day and decided to do some temp work on occasion to get a little cash for herself. She’d work maybe two days a week for maybe three weeks at a stretch. But then two became four and the assignments got longer. Fast-forward to today where she’s been working at the same place almost full-time for over a year. The house is a little dirtier and the dinner is a little more “instant,” but there’s still that extra weekday to catch up, and still everyone is happy. She’s got her pocket money and I’ve got a nice house to come home to.
But now there’s a possible job offer where I could work from home. This raises a predicament for me, at least, because I can’t decide what the fair way to divide up the chores is. On the one hand, she’s out of the house 30+ hours a week and I’m home with presumably free time, but on the other hand, I’m working from home at a mandatory, can’t-quit job where the fruits of my labor keep the lights on while she’s voluntarily spending time at something presumably more rewarding that scrubbing the shower. I keep going back and forth on who should do what and why.
So pretend you’re a judge of a Household Chore court and tell me what’s fair. Also keep in mind that I’m not actually working from home, so the situation is merely hypothetical, and that we’re more or less happy with the current arrangement.