Gender norms, fairness and relative working hours within households

•We show that women whose working hours exceed that of their partners report lower life satisfaction on average.•Using time-use data, we argue that it is explained by the unfairness of the “second-shift”. Using data in the United States, UK and Germany, we show that women whose working hours exceed those of their male partners report lower life satisfaction on average. By contrast, men do not report lower life satisfaction from working more hours than their female partners. An analysis of possible mechanisms shows that in couples where the woman works more hours than the man, women do not spend significantly less time doing household chores. Women with egalitarian ideologies are likely to perceive this unequal division of labour as unfair, ultimately reducing their life satisfaction.