Saturday, March 03, 2007

The Double Shift

Single women 'do less housework'
By Clare Davidson Business reporter, BBC News

Women do more housework than men even when both workLiving alone can be tediously predictable, especially as far as housework is concerned.

If you haven't cleaned the bath, then the chance of someone else unexpectedly doing so is close to nil.

But if you assume that moving in with a loved one will improve this, then think again - especially if you are female.

A new study has found that employed women living with their employed partner actually spend more time doing housework than single women.

HOURS OF HOUSEWORK
Single women in Britain spend 10 hours on average a week
Single men in Britain spend 7 hours on average a week
Women living in a couple spend 15 hours on chores
Men living in a couple spend 5 hours on chores

The men, on the other hand see the hours they commit to housework decline once they begin living as a couple.

The findings come from analysis by labour economist Helene Couprie of Toulouse University.

Her research, based on data from the British Household Panel Survey looked at working women - single or living with a partner, both with and without children.

Much as we might like to legislate against men for not doing housework, it is not an option
Ruth Lister, social policy professor, Loughborough University

And by examining information on more than 2,000 people, she concluded that on average, an employed woman does 15 hours a week of housework when she lives with her employed partner, up from 10 hours when single.

Lazy men

Meanwhile the men, who do seven hours while living alone, do only five when they co-habit.

The findings are partly, Ms Couprie suggests, due to influences that people have grown up with - where traditionally women have taken on the lion's share of domestic tasks.

She says that as long as children see their parents stick to certain tasks, such trends become hard to change.

Ultimately, she adds, "it is the work of social evolution".

And evolution takes time, she insists - perhaps another 20 years for the situation to really
change in terms of the division of labour.

Man Yee Kan, a sociologist at Oxford University's Time Use Research Unit says the reason men are doing a greater proportion than they did, is largely because women spend more time in paid work, therefore a smaller proportion of time doing housework.

Meanwhile Ruth Lister, a professor in social policy at Loughborough University says that whatever the reason for the stark differences, things must change.

"As much as we might like to legislate against men for not doing housework, it is not an option," laughs Ms Lister, adding that cultural expectations die hard.

Equality at work

Ms Couprie says that her findings of inequality in the home reflected those in the workplace.

While the wage gap is shrinking, it is still pronounced.

In 1970, women earned on average 29% less per hour than men.

According to the Equal Opportunities Commission, in 2006 the differential was 17%.
And women are still largely absent in the top jobs at UK firms, the commission recently found. Only 10% of directors of the UK's top FTSE 100 firms were female.

Ms Couprie concludes that that gender inequalities at home have a "significant influence on gender inequalities in the workplace - and vice versa", reinforcing other findings on the topic.
"The quickest way to improve the situation at home would be for women to gain equality at work in terms of pay and opportunities," she says.

"We need to get more women into the same types of jobs as men, as well as get pay parity between sectors," says Ms Couprie.

While Ms Couprie's focus is on economic measures, she admits equal pay - though crucial - is only one step to ensure a fairer division of labour at home.

"Cultural changes are far harder to overcome than the pure economic wage gap," she says.

29 comments:

Nichole said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tara said...

I strongly believe in equal distribution of household chores among men and women. I think that it is unfair that the women are still expected to take on the majority of house hold chores and have a job. It just so happens that I was talking to my roommate at lunch today about the unfairness of the situation. She said that when she gets married she is going to have her husband do laundry and cook and equal amount of the time because she feels that it would not be fair for her to do it all the time especially since she will most likely working farther away from the home then he will. To me that makes sense but I know a lot of married couples where the husband would never think to do house hold work unless told to do so. I have a neighbor whose husband never does a single thing to help around the house. When he gets home he sits in front of the TV the whole night. His reasons are because she doesn’t have a job and he does. Just because she is not currently employed does not mean that she should assume soul responsibility of taking care of the children and keeping up the house. I feel that this only reinforced to their children that men work outside of the home and women are to take care of the home but are also expected to have a job too.
I think that this article makes a good correlation between the inequality in the home and in the actual workforce. I wonder though if men would take on more responsibilities around the house if women would then gain more opportunities in the workforce. I’m sure that it would be much more complex then that. Even if women do make strides in the work force I think that they will still have the burden of the double shift.

Nichole said...

Of course, when I read this at first I believe I scared my roommate when I yelled “no shit” awfully loud at seeing that a woman’s work increases when she co-habitats with a man, up five hours from when she was living single. Why? She’s picking up after two people now, especially obvious when we see that a man’s house work actually declines two hours. Why that discrepancy? Chalk it up to his idea that he can create more work for her to do while lacking on his own duties. I say this because I have experienced it more so than I should have to. I definitely believe there should be an even distribution of household duties between partners. I understand that, traditionally, women have been the bearer of dirty dishes and messy rooms, but I don’t give a hot damn about what tradition says. I know when I look back at traditions, I tend to question all of them: slavery, sexism, Christianity…you name it. I can see where Ms Couprie is coming from in saying that evolution takes time, but that by no means, means that I am going to sit idly by and wait for things to change if I can try and do something about it. She explains that in order for women to gain equality in the home, we must gain it within the workplace first. Well, now, I don’t know about you, but it really seems that it should be the other way around. I think she is viewing it on too macro a level. Not to mention the fact that not every woman works outside the home. I believe it isn’t until we find equal treatment from the people that are supposed to love us the most can we expect it from almost total strangers.

viper10 said...

Yes, women do end up doing more work at home than men. Now I'm not saying this is how it should be, however throughout history this is the way it's been. In some ways I guess it can be good, and in others it can be bad. For one, in homes where the wife is there more often than the husband, she knows how she wants the place to look and can make it that way. If she is unemployed it can also give her something to do. On the other hand, it can make life more stressful for her, and if she is employed can take up much of her free time. Something I didn't like about this article is that it is only focusing on the problem in the U.K., and not in other countries as well. While it has been ingrained in us throughout our lives, for the wife to do the housework and the husband all the work outside the home, this should not always be the case. I think that when two people start living together, they should come to an agreement as to who does what around the house, and then stick with it.

Lokanda said...

Women doing more housework when they move in with a male who is also working doesn’t make since at first, until you really start to think about it. Men are not the most clean people to begin with and they are lazier then women. Since men are lazier and not as clean then women I guess women feel the need to take on the role of cleaning around the house because if they don’t do it, then it won’t get done. I feel like this is extremely accurate because men are more stubborn and hard headed most of the time. With that being said they are more likely to not do something that is not one hundred percent necessary and the women will given in and pick of the slack. However if the woman doesn’t do the cleaning and a mess starts to build up the man will get angry and either do it himself and complain about it or complain about it to the woman and she will then do it. It isn’t right that the household chores are not spread equally among the man and woman of the house. I don’t see a definite way to change this except for men and women to receive the same pay scale for their jobs. If the pay scale is the same then men can’t act or think they are superior and fell as if they don’t have to clean the house because they make more money because now they make the same.

GreatAmerican said...

After reading this article I can see that men do get paid more than women at their jobs and that women do more housework than men do. You can see this in almost any household you walk into. I think that a lot of it is because of past traditions, because traditionally the women have done the house work and the men have had a job and bring home the money. But the times are changing because know women want to work and make money as well. This would mean splitting the household chores with the man of the house. Most men are reluctant to do household chores because they feel that is a women’s job. That is not so because in my eyes you should do both men's and women's chores. Traditionally it is a women's chore but now men must accept this responsibility. I think that the man and the women should split the household chores because I think it is unfair that women have to do everything around the house because that is what is expected of them. I do not mind doing household chores because it is something that has to be done. I just feel that the men should help the women in matters around the house. Women always say that they have hard chores and that a womens work is never done. Well I think all men should try it and see if that is true.

Anonymous said...

DancingChef said. . . .
After reading this blog and with being in the current situation I am in right now (sharing a place with my long-term boyfriend), I agree a 110% that women in a couple do more housework then when they were single. I do not agree that this is how society should work but sadly that is how it is today. I believe that when a couple shares a household that they should split the responsibilities of the housework. I believe that women in a couple do more of the housework because women today are trying to be successful in the work-world but still want to hold on the traditional values of a family and take of the home. Men today take pride in their job and that is where they put forth their energy. While women take pride in their job but they also still want to take pride in their home. Men do not have a problem with women doing most of the housework because men feel that is what the women is suppose to do; clean and take care of things. In the reading of John Stuart Mill he refers women to being a type of a slave, that they are expected to be a slave twenty four hours a day. That they are supposed to cook, clean the house, take care of the children, and take care of her partner’s needs. Yes the equality gap is starting to close but as Mill explains the roles of women, we may no longer be at the point where women are viewed as slaves but women are still seen as those who take care of the home. No it shouldn’t be this way but I think times are changing, slowly.

Anonymous said...

From my own experiences, I agree that women do, do more housework than men. I think the reason for this is still partly because of the old traditions. I also think that someone feel that it is their job to do both. For instance, my mother thinks that is a woman’s job to do the housework and work at the same time. She doesn’t want to “bother” my dad or my brother with “chores”. In all reality though, they should be bothered with chores. I don’t think that all women think this way, or that all men are bothered with chores, but for the men that do think it is a woman’s job, they need to realize it is not. Women these days are just as busy with work as men are. With work, it is still prevalent that women are still discriminated against. For instance, women still make less money than men, and there aren’t as many women holding high position jobs as there are men. This article immediately made me think of Simone De Beauvoir, who sees women as “the other” to men. This article is trying to defeat this view, but yet still realizes that this view is still alive.

Nichole said...

i would even venture to say "no-names-available" that when you say women work just as hard as men that it is truly an understatement. You say your work study sometimes turns into 25 hrs a week, and I know I was the same way. I believe women feel a need to go above and beyond in order to prove that they ARE equal.

jimboaimstrong said...

I find these statistics to be parallel with what I and what I believe others would expect. That is not to say all households are like this. The stay-at-home-dad has been and still is growing in America. Even with such households rising, it is unforeseeable that the “roles” society has granted will ever be reversed, and it will take much work and many years until the work done in homes are equal. The same can be said with wages. Society has sadly not allowed for equality for such a long time that inequality has become the norm.
I want to make it clear that in no way do I agree with these current disproportions. They are unjust, sexist, and irresponsible. I, myself, although I do nearly zero hours of cleaning per week now, see that my future wife and I will share the house work. This is not simply because it is only fair, but also because I cannot imagine marring a woman who would not demand equality on my part. And I would fear any retaliation on her part for fueling what history has built and perpetuated.

Hendrix said...

I agree that women do more house work than men. It is sad that it is gender specific, but that is tradition and old habits die hard. What I don't understand is that women carry more burdens and responsibilities than men because they are expected to, but are portrayed as less to a man. Women have to work harder at their jobs to get promotions then come home and work more there too. I think they do all this without being asked hoping to obtain some credit to being hard workers but they don't even get that. Just as John Mill said women are slaves. They will continue to be so to if they don't wisen up. Some women today still think it is their job to do the housework and not a mans. This could be because women are groomed this way from birth. They are there to take care of the house hold as well as the children. Now women are even expect to work fulltime jobs as a result of wanting equality. When women wanted to break away from traditional views of them and wanted equality I don't they wanted to have to carry on the traditional along with the new age as well. Now women are required to do both, work and clean. I dont agree with Ms. Couprie when she says that in order to overcome the inequality women face at home we would have to be treated equaly on a professional level. I think women would first have to be treated equaly on a personal level since that is where it all began. If you can't change the minds of men outside the work force you can't change them inside. When you change the minds of the suppressor it is very personal and if that were to ever happen it would then effect women in every level of society not just one at a time.

God.Reagan.Rush said...

The statistics in this article are just that: statistics. I don’t deny that there are differences between men and women in the workplace. The proverbial “glass ceiling” will continue to plague women indefinitely. No amount of lobbying or protests will change the minds of men in Corporate America. Classic feminists like Marie-Olympes de Gouges calls for the equality of the sexes on a conceivable level, “The law should be the expression of the general will…It should be the same for all; all female and male citizens…should be equally admissible to all public offices, places, and employments, according to their capacities and with no distinctions other than those of their virtues and talents.” Guess what? The law gives us equal rights. Traditionally-minded men in Corporate America do not. How do we fix this? Shut up. Elaine Chao isn’t Secretary of Labor because she whined about it until her husband bribed the president. Condi Rice isn’t Secretary of State because Colin Powell handed it to her so she’d stop bitching. Prove yourself to be a strong woman instead of running your mouth. It’s not effective and creates a stigma for the female sex.

As far as the housework is concerned, until the proposed Equal Rights Amendment includes a clause that specifies how much housework men should do, get over it. Yes, I plan on going to law school someday, but I would much rather be a domestic housewife and raise a family with my husband. I love to cook, clean, and take care of my guy. Believe it or not, women have power over their husbands. Men don’t do housework because they aren’t forced to. Bottom line.

God.Reagan.Rush said...

Buck_Fush_9, your argument would be much more convincing if I could make it past the syntactical and spelling errors to understand what you were saying...

God.Reagan.Rush said...

I never once stated that women shouldn't fight for their rights. My point is that the female sex has been characterized as being emotional and rash. Classical feminists, even those well into the 20th century, made progress toward equal rights for women by using rational means. Modern feminism relies on pathos in a feeble attempt to mimic the successes of women like Elizabeth Stanton who relied on rhetoric and logic. Modern feminism is a joke; the so-called progress on issues like privacy rights is laughable. Women should be working toward equality in the workplace and in politics rather than whining about the “right” to terminate a pregnancy because someone forgot to take her pill one morning. Why do you think women like Phyllis Schlafly refuse to support an Equal Rights Amendment? These are things we should be working toward ourselves, not begging the legislature to do for us. How can men respect women if we rely on the big bad men in Washington to do everything for us? Make something of yourself to prove them wrong instead of guilting someone into doing it for you. All that does is reaffirm the idea that we are the weaker sex.

“I think, a desirable custom, that the wife should contribute by her labour to the income of the family. In an unjust state of things, her doing so may be useful to her, by making her of more value to the man who is legally her master;”- John Stuart Mill

“Yet, because I am a woman, I would not lead my readers to suppose that I mean violently to agitate the contested question respecting the equality or inferiority of the sex;”-Mary Wollstonecraft

“Considering that ignorance, disregard of or contempt for the rights of women are the only causes of public misfortune and of governmental corruption, they have resolved to set forth in a solemn declaration, the natural, inalienable and sacred rights of woman; to the end that this declaration, constantly held up to all members of society, may always remind them of their rights and duties; to the end that the acts based on women’s power and those based on the power of men, being constantly measured against the goal of all political institutions, may be more respected; and so that the demands of female citizens, henceforth founded on simple and indisputable principles, may ever uphold the constitution and good morals, and may contribute to the happiness of all.”- Marie Olympes de Gouges

In other words, prove yourself through your actions. Because of our incessant whining, society rolls its eyes and turns its head away from our cause.

“Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream.”- Rush Limbaugh

I’m sure you fall into this category. Buck_Fush…Yuck Fou.

Anonymous said...

When reading this article I found so much truth to the situation. I do live with my boyfriend who works and goes to school as well as I do. But it seems that all the housework is left up to me. We recently split up and I moved out and while I was gone he seemed to do all the housework. It was always clean. He did all the laundry kept the bathroom clean but once we got back together I can barely get him to take out the trash now. I do believe that women need to take a stand. This is how I handle the situation. I just refuse to do it and make him do it. I tell him look this is the jobs and we will split then 50/50. If you don’t get your part done than I will quit doing my part and my part will not get done also. Equal pay is an issue and it something that needs to be address. Dr. Caric recently told us during lecture that a woman in Kentucky with a college education does not get paid as much as a man with an eight grade education. This horribly upsets me and this cycle must stop. Men need to learn that the house cleaning and cooking is something that women shouldn’t have to do alone. This is something that is a responsibility and when you co-habitat you should help the woman as much as you can.

Anonymous said...

A few people seem to be missing the key issue, in my opinion. A woman should not have to "put her foot down" and force her husband/boyfriend to contribute to the housework. This is an issue of respect. Men should have enough respect for their partners to do their fair share of the housework without being forced or begged or nagged. I recently read an article that not only do single women do less housework, but women who out-earn their partners tend to do MORE housework, doing the most if they are the sole-earner of the family. This is a serious problem. There are theories that this may be because men define themselves by rejecting femaleness, so in order to compensate for being emasculated by being out-earned by his female partner, he refuses to be further feminized by doing housework. The women, on the other hand, feel guily for emasculating their partners, and overcompensate by taking on an even larger portion of "traditional" female roles. If this is true, then in addition to respect for one's partner, this is an overwhelming issue of sexism and gender roles, and issue that needs to be addressed not only by our society, (which not only finds it acceptable, but encourages it,) but also by individual partner units.

The Tim said...

As sorry as I am to hear this, I'm also skeptical. Even today, old stereotypes die hard. My mom does a lot (not all) of the "housework" such as vacuuming and cooking, but it's not like my dad is just sitting on the couch drinking beer. He's the one who mows the grass, rakes the leaves, shovels the snow, and maintains the exerior of the house in general. He also runs a lot of the errands. I'm sure that he's not the only one like this, so before everyone decides that men are useless and lazy, look closely at what they're doing instead of the housework.

JRHORNE said...

Honestly I am not really surprised with the findings from this article in the slightest, because that has been the the way things have been in "traditional" families for centuries. Now we are progression past that as time goes by I think because I do believe personally that it is now becoming a more accepted concept for men to do their part of the housework. I know in my family while i was growing up i was expected to take care of my room and that was most of more indoor chores. It was my more of my mother and my sisters role to clean the house. My role was more like doing things like take out the garabe to the bin, cut the grass, ect... bacically the more generally accept male chores of the house. My father, who to this day has NEVER did his own laundry, would go on cleaning sprees when he had the chance, but for the most part it was left up to the females in my family. As I said to me its not surprising that single womne do less house work for the simple reason that women in a relationship are EXPECTED to pick up the slack. Its not a role I nessessarily agree with, but it is an exsistant one none the less.
I also agree with viper and would like to see the statistics for this on the United States.

retro_liberal said...

Let’s all just agree to agree that women do more housework than men do. Shall we? I mean, I thought the point of this assignment was to promote discussion, yet all I see are numerous posts saying “I agree, it’s bad, here’s why.” It’s all redundant. I’m sure there’s at least one psycho-conservative among us, please, oh please!!! explain to us all why women should do all of the housework.

Tell us, that it’s because the bible said so. Or that it interrupts the delicate balance that is a healthy, traditional, American family. Espouse the virtues of gender identity, and inform us that for children, seeing the men do house work will only confuse them about their own gender and make them….GASP!......into gays. Surely, only lesbians demand men to do housework, anyway.

Couldn’t it be said that the men are too busy earning (in Britain) 17% more than the working women, and clearly can’t be bothered with as much housework because they still play the dominant role in providing for their families? Sure, it’s an argument (I bet Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh would make the same argument), however weak it actually turns out to be.

Or, you could always resort to the classics; men marry women who remind them of their mothers, and their mothers all did the housework! See, I’m a crazy liberal and I can come up with better conservative arguments than the conservatives!

MaxTurmoil said...

I agree with retroliberal, where is the conservative outrage? My take on this is the pay distribution between men and women may still have a substantial disparity among it, however traditional values have not. Even with women in the workforce in increasing numbers the values system has not changed much. As per our discussion in class some women only desire to be more traditional then new-age when we were talking about why women do not have a unified front for feminism.. Now it is probably safe to say that the house chores being divided up unevenly is unfair. However with many traditional values still in place it is sometimes an unspoken norm that women clean up more than men. I would argue that men once they begin to cohabit figure the race is over why clean up begin to become more lazy on the chores. And women usually conditioned by culture to be more clean and organized get tired of looking at the mans mess, so besides cleaning up hers she goes ahead and does his. And the man seeing this cycle begins to feel he can get away with it and continually does not clean up after himself because the woman will still clean up. Its a cycle that would be extremely hard to break and I don't see any shift like 20 years as suggested in the article.

Mr. Moneybags said...

In response to retro_liberal:
Gasp... you’re a crazy liberal who, like most liberals, think you’re smarter than everyone else. Did you talk to Ann or Rush? Did they actually tell you what their opinions are? You know what they say about assuming. Anyway, women do more house work, not because men are so tired, but because men are doing more yard work or farm work in rural areas or fixing things around the house. I’m sure we could find some American Statistics to support this claim, not UK ones, which is the basis for this entire argument. This argument is leaving out the fact that men are outside fixing the wife's car or mowing the lawn. If we added up the hours spent performing these tasks it would equal or maybe even exceed women’s tough air conditioned housework hours. This is especially the case for rural areas. Saying that men just come home, set around, drink beer and yell at their wives to clean up while using another countries statistics (which is what your doing) is ignorant. This is similar to me wanting to write an article about fast-food in America and using statistics from Mexico. Maybe if some crazy liberals who have conservative mind powers wouldn't be so self-centered, think what men might actually be doing, then spoke I wouldn't have to feel my IQ actually fall a few points after reading such claims. So once one THINKS about it, Men are actually doing more strenuous work at home than women, in tougher conditions, after coming home from work, where they are earning more money.

Mr. Moneybags said...

O yeah and I will buy you a brain ... I hear they are real cheap on EBay, but I will check Amazon to be fair.

raiden5060 said...

I think that housework should be evenly distributed among married couples. I agree with Lindsay that it is (or should be) an issue of respect for a man to help his wife out around the house. I know I wouldn’t mind doing the dishes or the laundry or cleaning. I don’t see those roles as being fundamentally feminine as much as they are fundamentally domestic. I think that for centuries, our culture and many others around the world have made a mistake in confusing “female” and “domestic.” Men can be domestic too! I think I should write a book… Maybe “The Masculine Mystique.” (Betty Friedan would be mortified!)
I’m rambling…Back on topic, I think men are starting to view the assumption of domestic roles as a sort of empowering thing. I know I do. I think there is something empowering about knowing how to cook, or cleaning up the house: being domestic.
I’ve always found it bizarre that men make such an issue about how much leverage woman are given in custody cases when men are the ones who for centuries have put women in the roles of primary caregivers to children. That was what I meant when I said that men have been making a mistake in confusing “female” and “domestic.” We have condemned ourselves to be excluded from the household arena, and we complain with impotence and helplessness when we find ourselves shafted by the very arrangement that we have for centuries established and maintained.

Anonymous said...

Wrote by: jrhorne

I like to think of myself as an individual who is open to hear what everyside has to say, and with that being said I am not much of a Fan Coulter's constant liberal bashing but nor am i a fan on the author of this article saying that people who call themselves conservative all see themselves as superior to people on the other side of the ticket. Well i hate to be the barron of bad new but that air of supperiority works on both sides of the tickets. Where as SOME conservatives do consider themselvers supperior far in fact many of the reasons mentioned in the article, in a same like manner some who considers themselves Liberal do they same thing the only difference is being what they feel makes them supperior to conservatives. This is a common mistake that honestly i believe both sides of frequently make, dismissing each other out of prinicple.

Some on mentioned above about Adgenda's and goals that one side or another has. Well i hate to break the nice little illusion here, but ALL sides of the ticket has goals and adgendas that they want accomplished. To me this clearly demonstrates why is always good to keep a nice open mind to hear what any political figure says, and then judge them for both what they say and what they do. People take alot of pride in considering themselves liberal or conservative to a point where in many cases that is where the battle lines are drawn. It folly to support or oppose a candidate such due to such a title, instead of judging of their merrit and what they are bringing to the table. To quote shakespear "A rose under any name would smell just as sweet" in the like manner great govermental policy IS just as great no matter what of the ticket it orriginates from.

Anonymous said...

And the above is what happens ladies and gentlemen if you accidently close the wrong window, and copy and paste your post in the wrong place. My bad.

MaxTurmoil said...

As with moneybags. I hate to agree but I will agree, using another countries statistics for ours is not a good candid idea. Too many differences. I will not go as far as say air conditioned chores are easier by any means. I would much rather change the oil on a car then dust and mop and do all that other crap. However as a male, I do not mind cleaning and would be as bold to say I keep my living area very clean. But these stats do seem to be loaded, but I stand by my original argument that women are traditionally viewed as the cleaners in society. But I will also admit like mr moneybags, that men do a lot of grunt work that goes unnoticed. But one could also argue the if you are spending 15 hours a week (the estimated time cleaning) mowing the yard and working on the same car week in and week out, A) you need a riding lawn mower, or B) you need a new car. So this really isn't a two way street, but men are not getting enough credit here.

rodeo8 said...

I think this is absolutely ridiculous that women do so much more housework than men; this just goes to show how lazy men truly are. While I do agree with maxturmoil and moneybags that we should not be using another countries statistics for our own, I still feel like that these are probably still very close to American statistics. First off men seem not to care whether the house is sanitary or not, I know in my household my dad creates as much of a mess as the kids. He says it is his and that no one should worry about it, because he knows where all of it is, but the truth is that it is clutter. Also when I use that excuse with my room that I know where everything is, so it isn’t a mess, neither of my parents buy it. I realize that in early American times the roles of women were to take care of the house and children, but in today’s society, women spend just as much time as men in the workforce and then come home and spend way more time doing housework. So my question is why are men allowed to be lazier than women? When men are single statistics show that they do more housework than when they are married, which should be the exact opposite because there is more to do, where are women spend less time when they are single and more time when they are married. In today’s society, women should not be expected to work a nine to five job, take care of the kids, make dinner and do all the housework, I know there are many women who do, my mom being one of them, but men should take a greater responsibility in the family. Honestly, if both the man and woman in a relationship shared responsibilities I don’t think that either of them would spend much time doing housework at all.

Anonymous said...

I find this article interesting. It has the facts, but yet it uses bashing general phrases such as the blunt “Lazy men” which is issued in the middle of the article. Is that really interesting? But it is interesting to analyze and compare the financial and time put in between the two sexes. In my opinion, everything should be balanced. Why not? Men should apply the same amount of housework and women should get paid the same wages. If everything would be equal, then there’s not going to be a problem. Now, there are plausible excuses. If one partner of the duo is contributing more time at the workplace, then is it really that big of deal if they do less housework? Factors should be considered before digesting the statistics. A spectrum of items can play in to part to divide up what is necessary. Besides, if the couple is satisfied with the types of contributions being applied, then why should it be a problem? Of course, there are cases where either part is doing more than the other, but it’s all a matter of perspective. If these people are living together, they should be able to figure out their own amount of housework.

Anonymous said...

I was very saddened after reading this article but realized that everything that was mentioned is very true. To think that single women do less housework than women who are coupled and living with a man is absurd to me. Women continually have to fight for their rights and freedoms of equality to men, while these are just given to a man simply because they are of the male species, and after all this fighting women still have to do all the housework. Housework is housework it is something that has to be done, but what makes men think that they are so superior to women that they do not have to help out around the house? I have yet to figure this out. Has our society not progressed enough that the woman not only has to be the breadwinner but also the cook, cleaner, maid, and waitress? While growing up my mother always taught my brother and I to clean up after ourselves and if we made a mess then we must clean it up. I was so surprised when I realized that all families were not like this. I recently moved in with my friend and her boyfriend, both of them work, but for some reason she still has to have dinner on the table, do the laundry, and clean up after messes that he makes. One day she and I sat down to talk about her unhappiness with her lifestyle, and I opened her eyes to how she was behaving and acted like her boyfriends mother. After talking with him about her concerns she told me that he said that he just expected her to want to do all of the stuff around the house. This amazed me, who would want to be a stave to a man? The male species to me is very lazy like the article says and it is sad that men do not want to help those they supposedly care about and allow them some sort of peace in their lives, instead of a 24-7 job.