Housework?

Did you know that on average men have half an hour extra free time each day? What ever you feel is fair in your household, housework and the dividing up of jobs at home can cause trouble in a relationship. If you or your partner feels hard done by it can niggle away and irritate for years before coming to the surface. Below you will find some interesting statistics about how much time other people spend doing the chores and how they divide up those nasty jobs around the house.

Who does what in the home?

• In 1994, when couples in a relationship were surveyed 81% said that it was always or usually the woman who did the laundry. In 2006 the figure stood at 77%. (1)
• Both in 1994 and in 2006, 42% of men and women in relationships felt that it was usually or always the woman who did the grocery shopping. (1)

What are British people’s attitudes to housework?

• In 1989 32% of men and 26% of women thought that it was “a man’s job to earn money; a woman’s job is to look after the home and family. In 2006 17% of men and 15% of women agreed with the statement. (1)
• In 2006 41% of men and 29% of women agreed that a pre-school child is likely to suffer if his or her mother works. (1)

How often do couples argue over housework?

• 14% of men and 17% of women felt that they disagreed with their partner over housework several times a month. (1)

How long do people spend doing housework?

• On average women spend over 2 hours and 30 minutes a day doing housework: cooking, washing up, cleaning and ironing- 1 hour and 30 minutes more than men. Both sexes spend similar lengths of time gardening or looking after pets. DIY and car maintenance are the only chores that men, in general, spend more time on than women. (2)
• Overall men have an extra half hour of free time each day than women. (2)
• Women spend more time caring for their children than men, and this is true even for full-time workers. Women living in a couple and working full time spend on average nearly four and a half hours on childcare and other activities with their children on a weekday. For men in the same circumstances the comparable figure is just over three and a half hours. (2)
• Both men and women working full-time spend just over six and a half hours a day with their children at the weekend. Nevertheless, the time with their children is spent in different ways. Women spend around two hours on housework while with their children, compared with 1 hour and 20 minutes spent by men. In contrast, men spend around 1 hour and 20 minutes watching TV in the company of their children, compared with around 50 minutes by women. (2)

References

1. Crompton, R. & Lyonette, C. (2008). Who does the housework? The division of labour within the home. In Park, A. et al., British Social Attitudes: The 24th Report 2007/2008. London: Sage.
2. National Statistics. (2000). UK time use survey. London: HMSO Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.