DS (Now married/committed relationship) comes home from a long day at the office and his DW/D? has made a gourmet dinner after her long day...
So, teach him how to cook!
Maybe he knows how but does not want to after a long day's work, perhaps book-ended by long commutes. There is something to be said for the single-earner model. Most of my colleagues in finance (but not me) have wives who are SAHMs. Many women have jobs such as teaching that pay an order of magnitude less than high-level corporate jobs. In such cases, the most important economic contribution the wife can make is to support her husband's career.
My husband and I have opted for a single-earner model and I would consider a suggestion from my husband such as the one you've made highly offensive. A couple certainly could agree on that division of labour, but to assert that it's the best possible solution in all cases involves some rather regressive assumptions.
Are you suggesting that the maximum possible value of the SAH parent is meal preparation and household chores? As an individual with two graduate degrees who is a SAH mother, I would beg to differ. Especially when the financial opportunity cost of my time in the market is *higher* than my husband's in corporate law.
Let's not forget that decisions can be made for non-market reasons, and the expectation that the non-market spouse performs the household work is an assumption that may be both socially and economically irrational.
To connect this to the original topic, perhaps interpersonal sensitivity and less reliance on gender stereotypes in specializing intra-couple labour, is a source of happiness among gifted couples.
