How men are getting lazier about the house
HAVE you noticed the man in your life easing off on the gardening or perhaps leaving that broken light switch longer than he should have?
If so, you won’t be alone. A study has found men are doing less to help around the home than they did 15 years ago. It claims they have reduced the amount of ‘non-routine’ housework they do – such as grocery shopping and home repairs – by 14 minutes a day.
The study by NatCen Social Research examined trends between 2001 and 2015 on how parents spend their time, with more than 2,000 filling in ‘time use’ diaries.
It found the gender gap between mothers and fathers has increased when it comes to sharing non-routine housework over that period.
In 2001, fathers spent an average of 77 minutes on this work, compared with 82 minutes for mothers – a gap of five minutes. However, by 2015, the time fathers spent on these tasks dropped to just 63 minutes, while women spent 78 minutes – a gap of 15 minutes.
The research also examined ‘core’ housework, such as food preparation, cleaning and ironing.
In 2001, mothers spent over three times the amount of time on core housework when compared with fathers – 167 minutes to 52 minutes. By 2015, the figures were 141 minutes and 57 minutes respectively.
Svetlana Speight, of NatCen Social Research, told the Sunday Times: ‘Even among parents who both work full-time, mothers are doing about twice as much cooking and cleaning compared with their partners.’