Division of Labor

Call it the mother lode. Call it unfair, or just call it a day. Dividing housework is without a doubt the biggest strain on the marriages of new parents, who are already struggling to adjust to life with baby (and trying to snatch an extra hour of sleep any way they can). "It's an issue for every family I know," says Pam Anderson, a mom of two in Coronado, California. "And it ranges from extreme bitterness to more easygoing resignation."

No matter how you take it, you are probably doing more of the chores around the house. Indeed, women do about 19.4 hours of housework a week compared to men's 9.7 hours, according to research by Suzanne Bianchi, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland.

Getting him to do his share of the work, then, becomes as much a battle of new parenthood as getting baby to sleep through the night. And although the problem is as varied as individual families are, there are some general strategies you can use to even out the situation (or at least to help minimize that brewing resentment that you're having to do it all).