and over 40% reported they were doing much more child care than their husbands after

the birth of their babies.

 A later study (Cook et al., 2005) followed 68 couples across the transition to

parenthood, assessing partners' expectations for and actual involvement of the fathers.

Fathers expected to be more involved with child care than the mothers expected the

fathers to be; both parents reported the fathers' involvement to be lower than they had

expected. Similarly, Van Egeren's (2004) study of 101 couples transitioning to

parenthood also found mothers had greater responsibility for child care than they

expected while fathers had less. In this investigation, the magnitude of violated

expectations were greatest at 1 month, and lessened (though were still present) at 3 and 6

months. These trends illustrate the belief men should be involved in child care, but the

majority are not (Thompson & Walker, 1989). In turn, "most middle-class mothers

believe that parenting squelched whatever marital equality they had managed before

children" (Thompson & Walker, 1989, p. 863). Even more than the actual division of

labor, these "violated expectations" have profound effects on women's well-being and

marital satisfaction (Cowan & Cowan, 2000; Goldberg & Perry-Jenkins, 2004; Hackel &

Ruble, 1992; Kalmuss, Davidson, & Cushman, 1992; Pancer & Pratt, 2000; Ruble et al.,

1988).

 Some authors have been surprised by women's expectations for their partners'

fairly equal involvement in child care and housework, given the reality of fathers' lesser

degree of participation (Ruble et al., 1988). Yet both mothers' and fathers' expectations

do seem linked to fathers' actual involvement. As described above, in Cook and his

colleagues' (2005) study, both mothers and fathers expected higher participation in child