The present study examined the effect of economic hardship on married women' maritalsatisfaction, and the mediation effect of the spouse's household labor and shared couple activitiesbetween household economic hardship and marital satisfaction. In addition, it was interested ininvestigating whether the effect was different between married women who were working andthose who were not. The participants were 2,466 employed and 3,477 unemployed married womenfrom the panel data of the 2008 Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families. The findingsof this study were as follows: First, the economic hardship of both groups had a negative effect ontheir marital satisfaction. Second, it was found that the mediation effect of the spouse's householdlabor was found only for employed married women. Third, it was found that shared couple activitiesmediated between economic hardship and marital satisfaction for both married women who wereworking and those who were not. Finally, further suggestions and implications were discussed.