Overview
- The Institut national d'études démographiques published the findings on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, reporting that domestic chores are more equally split in same-sex couples than in heterosexual couples.
- Measured differences include that 33% of female same-sex couples report equal sharing of meal preparation versus 25% of heterosexual couples and 63% of female couples report equal sharing of dishwashing versus 48% of heterosexual couples.
- The analysis used Erfi 2 (2024) data and an intentionally oversampled analytic sample of 7,575 cohabiting couples, including 276 female and 373 male same-sex couples, to allow direct comparisons across couple types.
- Trends show growing inequality in task-sharing among heterosexual couples over time, stable equality among female same-sex couples, and gradual improvement among male same-sex couples, with marriage linked to less balanced sharing for heterosexuals but not for same-sex couples.
- The researchers argue the patterns reflect weaker social pressure on women in same-sex relationships to perform household labor and note the share of people cohabiting in same-sex couples in France more than doubled since 2011 to about 1.3% of 18–79‑year‑olds.