Lazy men ‘do wives a favour’

MEN who dodge household chores could be doing their wives good, a study claims.

Doing housework keeps older women healthier than men of the same age, it was revealed.

Women over 65 spend five hours a day doing housework, compared with only three hours for men of the same age.

The women who did more housework felt healthier than their male counterparts – as long as they got plenty of sleep.

The survey revealed men spend 88 minutes a day cleaning, cooking and shopping, compared to women’s 217 minutes a day.

But women do 38 minutes a day gardening and maintenance, compared to men’s 68 minutes a day.

Study author Nicholas Adjei, of Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology, in Germany, said: “Engaging in a few hours of housework may be beneficial to the health of older adults.”

The findings were published in the journal BMC Public Health.