Have changes in gender relations affected marital quality?

We used national data from two samples reflecting different marriage cohort s to examine long-term changes in gender relations within marriage, long-te rm changes in marital quality, and the association between the two. The fir st marriage cohort consisted of individuals married between 1964 and 1980 ( N = 1,119) and interviewed in 1980, whereas the second marriage cohort cons isted of individuals married between 1981 and 1997 (N = 312) and interviewe d in 1997. Compared with the earlier cohort, the more recent cohort reporte d larger contributions to household income among wives, more employment of wives with preschool-age children, less traditional gender-role attitudes, a greater share of housework on the part of husbands, less husband influenc e in marriage, and greater wife influence in marriage. Members of the more recent marriage cohort also reported significantly more marital discord. Th is difference in discord was explained partly by greater work-family confli ct in the more recent cohort. Other changes in gender relations, however we re not related to increases in marital discord.