Husband contributing to essential part of housework? (5)
I believe the answer is:
chore
'part of housework?' is the definition.
(chores can mean housework)
'husband contributing to essential' is the wordplay.
'husband' becomes 'h'.
'contributing to' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters make a new contribution).
'essential' becomes 'core' (both can mean very important).
'h' going inside 'core' is 'CHORE'.
(Other definitions for chore that I've seen before include "unwelcome task" , "Boring task" , "Stream's murmuring" , "Household job" , "Drudgery" .)