I read an article this week that was shocking and that was my first reaction! I laughed and then felt vindicated, like someone had FINALLY understood what I’ve been saying for years. But then I felt bad because the target of the article was made to look bad, even though the article might have been true in some situations.
The article was about housework. . .
It described the differences between housework for both single and married womenin the 70s and the housework that is done today.
- In the 70s, single women did about 9 hours of housework less than married women. The single men, they only did about 3 hours more than married men.
- Yet 13 years ago, single women did about 4 hours of housework less than married women. As for the single men, they spent about 5 hours less than married men.
Women are still doing more housework than men, which most of us know, but the article went into more detail for women in 2005.
- Single women with no children did about 10 hours of housework per week.
- Married women with no children did about 17 hours of housework per week.
The ONLY difference between these two types of women was the presence of a husband. Here’s where I laughed and felt like the world was finally right. As a woman that has no children, works outside of the home and is trying to build something beautiful, I have felt for years that I do more housework every day. We have a dog to clean up after, there is laundry to be done, the dishes have to be clean, meals to be made…yadda, yadda, yadda! In today’s day and age, women do approximately 7 hours more per week of housework.
This article got me thinking. The guys are getting a bad wrap. Not all married men do nothing around the house to help out. In my house, we take chores we like to do and just get them done. It isn’t about splitting the work or taking a “Divide and Conquer” approach, it is simply about getting things done. I also wonder why women naturally do more of the housework than men. Yes, in my house we do the chores we like to do, but I do find myself naturally tiding up a bit more.
While everyone’s relationship is different, I can tell you this. Relationships are hard and women tend to take on more of the housework than men. Women want a clean house, one that maybe isn’t Pinterest-perfect but presentable for guests. And women like to have clean clothes to wear every day, rather than shuffling through the laundry pile. Even when schedules are cramped and there’s stressful situations, both inside and outside of the home, women continue to do the housework to have a sense of outer order. I may be generalizing here, but I think most women would agree with me that having an outer order does actually lead to inner calm.
I’m sure you have your own opinions on the study that was done and I’d love to hear them. Whether you’re a man or a woman, share your thoughts about how housework gets done in your household.