Women still shoulder the bulk of household chores, study finds

New research shows women are still shouldering the bulk of housework — even when both have full-time jobs.

According to the latest data from the University College London (UCL) and published in the journal Work, Employment and Society women do more housework than men and fewer than 7 per cent of couples share housework equally.

“When it comes to housework and caring, we see gender equality remains rare and gender norms remain strong,” Professor Anne McMumm, who led the research, said, according to The Telegraph.

“Changing attitudes around gender norms is one avenue for encouraging change in this area.”

Read more: ‘He never cleans’: Frustrated wife fed up with husband’s laziness

The team analysed data from more than 8,500 heterosexual couples who were interviewed as part of the UK Household Longitudinal Study between 2010 and 2011.

The researchers found almost half of the couples surveyed were duel-earners, with both members having full-time jobs.

However, working women spent between 10 and 19 hours on housework weekly. But men in this group averaged fewer than five hours per week.

Meanwhile, the second biggest group, where men had full-time jobs and women worked part-time or not at all, on average women tended to spend more than 20 hours per week on household tasks. In contrast, men contributed fewer than five hours per week.

Only where women were the main earners or men were ‘stay-at-home’ husbands, the housework was shared equally, or men did more.

Meanwhile, it comes after a previous study sparked debate after it suggested Aussie men think they do their fair share of household chores.

According to the University of Melbourne’s long-term HILDA (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) study, women are increasingly disagreeing with statements about traditional general arrangements for parenting and work.

Read more: Aussie men think they do their fair share of household chores: Study

Women in de facto relationships were least likely to be in favour of traditional gender roles while married men were most in favour of such arrangements, study co-author Inga Lass said.

“HILDA shows most women feel overburdened by household chores, while most men think they do their fair share,” she said.

Men spend an extra hour a week on housework compared to 2002, but their 13.3 hours is short of women’s 20.4 hours. However, the study showed men spent more time on employment (on average 35.9 hours a week in 2016) than women (24.9 hours).

What are your thoughts on this? Who does the most housework at your home?