How do women assert power and negotiate space within the household? Existing literature suggests that factors outside the household shape women’s empowerment – such as employment opportunities, laws that regulate the relationship between men and women, as well as societal norms. In this project, we explore how women make use of resources within the household to assert power. We argue that in settings where women's employment opportunities are limited, household labour is not just a loss of time for women. Instead, women use the allocation of different types of household tasks to pursue their own goals. Consequently, women may want to take on more of some types of household work, because these types of work will increase their decision-making capacity without having to overtly negotiate or challenge the status quo. We test this theory using original survey and qualitative data from Zambia. Our contribution complicates the relationship between household work, time allocation, and women’s economic and political participation.