Husbands 'create extra seven hours of housework a week'
Men still average four fewer hours of housework compared to women, despite study suggesting they create more work
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Husbands create an extra seven hours of housework a week, and it's the women that do it, research has found.
Researchers at the University of Michigan analysed data from time diaries, concluding that that the average married woman does seven more hours of housework per week than the average single woman.
The average married man only does one more hour of housework per week compared to his single counterparts.
The research did not include ‘core’ household tasks such as home repair, gardening or washing the car, but focussed on everyday tasks like cooking, cleaning and basic tidying.
The average woman was found to do 17 hours of housework per week, which is nine hours less than they were doing in 1976.
Men were found to do an average of 13 hours of housework per week, a number which has more than doubled in the past 30 years.
Researchers also found that having children increased the amount of housework done by women, but seemed to reduce the amount done by men.
Married women with more than three children did an average of 28 hours per week, more than 10 hours more than the average woman.
In contrast, married men with more than three children did around 10 hours of housework per week, compared to 13 hours completed by the average man.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments