The majority of British women still report doing most of the housekeeping – and are less happy about the situation than men
British women today are still responsible for the majority of traditional chores associated with housekeeping, new YouGov research confirms. 61% of women say that they do the majority of the cleaning and tidying in their household and 57% say that they do the majority of the cooking. Only 5% say their husband or boyfriend does the majority of cleaning and 12% the cooking.
The only area of housework in which men report doing the majority of the work is fixing things around the house. 72% of men felt that they were most likely to fix something that was broken, only 2% believed their female partner was more likely to. Even this, however, is viewed slightly differently by women: 26% of women felt that they were most likely to fix something that was broken, with 37% believing their partner was more likely to.
There is a striking difference is the degree to which men and women are happy about this state of affairs. 69% of men are satisfied with the way the household chores are parcelled out at home, with only 7% feeling unsatisfied (a net satisfaction score of 62).
Women, by contrast, are more than twice as likely to be unsatisfied (18%), and less likely to be satisfied (61%), leaving a net satisfaction score of 43.
Gender equality remains a hot topic in British politics; the ONS predicted the gender pay gap for full time workers was predicted to be 9.6% in 2012. This research may point to an ongoing ‘satisfaction gap’ in terms of the household chores.
Image: Getty