Having a husband creates an extra seven hours of housework each week for women, according to a new study. For men, tying the knot saves an hour of weekly chores.
How is it possible for both of those sentences to be true? Do they mean to tell us that what unmarried men can do in an hour every week, it takes married women seven hours to do? Is it possible that the husbands are interfering, thus causing an hour's worth of chores to expand to seven?
"It's a well-known pattern," said lead researcher Frank Stafford, an economist at University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. "Men tend to work more outside the home, while women take on more of the household labor."
Why, how dare you make such an observation, you sexist pig!
He points out individual differences among households exist. But in general, marriage means more housework for women and less for men. "And the situation gets worse for women when they have children," Stafford said.
Well, duh!
Overall, times are a' changing in the American home. In 1976, women busied
themselves with 26 weekly hours of sweeping-and-dusting work, compared with 17 hours in 2005. Men are pitching in more, more than doubling their housework
hours from six in 1976 to 13 in 2005.
Some of the reduction on the part of the women may have to do with technology. Either that, or they're saying that what it takes women 9 hours to do, men can do in seven.
Stafford analyzed time-diaries and questionnaires from a nationally representative sample of men and women over a 10-year period between 1996 and 2005. The federally-funded study showed that, compared with the single life, marriage meant more housework for both men and women.
Wait. I thought you said in the second sentence that men were saving and hour of housework every week by getting married. If both are having to do more housework than when unmarried, there’s yet another argument for staying unmarried – one that works on either sex.
"Marriage is no longer a man's path to less housework," Stafford said.
Which is just one of the many reasons some men have gone on a marriage strike.
Single guys worked the hardest around the house, trumping all age groups of married men.
Very interesting.
Hey, when are we going to see a study about how much more a married man must earn to cover living expenses – mortgage/rent, utilities, insurance, medical bills, clothing, furniture, entertainment, travel and transportation, food, birthday/anniversary/holiday and romantic gifts (including the ones bought for him), gifts for parties and showers he doesn’t want to attend, etc.?
I’m old-school. I’m happy to go out and earn to provide for my family so that my wife can take care of me, our children, and our home. I even help out around the house. But I should not be expected to divide chores evenly with my wife – those are her job. That is why she doesn’t earn income outside of the home.
*Update - radio talk show host Tom Leykis is covering this study this (5pm PST) hour. He chalks up the one hour/seven hour disparity to "six hours of her nagging you to do the chores". He also cites all of the things most women no longer have to do (car maintenance, for example) if they are married.
**Update #2 - Does the study take into account that married people tend to move into bigger homes, and thus there is more housework? It really is strange that single men, who the study says do a lot of housework, drop an hour when they marry and single women, who do less housework, add seven hours when they marry. Do they mean to imply that single women are slobs until they have someone living with them?
Ken, it's really nice to have a male perspective. Interestingly enough, I agree that most housework is a stay at home mom's job. My blog was predominantly tongue in cheek for the benefit of my husband who is a new lurker to my blog.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are some things that do add to my day. For example, my husband is active duty Navy. His submarine laundry alone adds at least 5 loads of wash a week when he is home. When my husband is gone, I make more elaborate dinners, have to do more maintenance to keep the house clean, I even pick up his socks. I think he could pick up his own socks and put them in the hamper, don't you?
I really enjoyed reading your blog. Would you mind if I blog roll you so that I can continue to read?
"It really is strange that single men, who the study says do a lot of housework, drop an hour when they marry and single women, who do less housework, add seven hours when they marry. Do they mean to imply that single women are slobs until they have someone living with them?"
ReplyDelete...or could it be that the men they marry are complete slobs?
Except that the study also says that single men do the most housework. So, do the men turn into slobs the moment they get married?
ReplyDeleteHow many men out there issue ultimatums to a woman to marry them or else? If these men are such slobs, why are women so eager to marry them?
I think what we have here is that men expect something in exchange for bringing a higher income. The drop an hour of housework when they get married, expecting the woman they are financially supporting to take more of the domestic responsibilities.
Ken, your comment assumes that the man is the primary breadwinner. This isn't always the case, in this day and age, often women out -earn their male counterpart and STILL do more housework.
ReplyDeleteMy sister, for example, is an airline captain. My brother in law is unemployed, supposedly stays at home to take care of the kids, but my sister still has to hire a Nanny to do that, and he still doesn't pick up his own laundry - or just about anything else for that matter.
I thought men get sex in exchange for financial support not housework. I can't keep this stuff straight.
ReplyDeleteMy ex-husband was a neat freak. I would put him in the anal category. He was quite militant about it. I would choose a spouse who is contentious, or just hire a maid and be done with it.
If a woman is spending 17 hours on dusting-sweeping type housework, she is a fool. I have two small (age 5 and 2) children at home and cleaning takes maybe MAYBE 15 minutes per room per day and not every room must be cleaned every day. Add in laundry, and it's just the folding and putting away that takes much time. Cooking meals and clean up add time but it's just as easy to cook for 1 as for 4 (or 8 and freeze leftovers for another day). Am I forgetting anything, girls?
ReplyDeleteI think 17 hours is either a gross over-exaggeration or my fellow women are either over-compensating perfectionists OR just stupid. Why would anyone waste 17 hours of their week on housework? That's a lack of efficiency or blatant lies.
make your life easier: goto flylady.com and learn how to keep your house clean and organized and get on with the fun part of life!
Thanks for your comments. Yes, if the husband is a neat freak, "let" him do it.
ReplyDeleteSnowflake - yes, my comments assume the man is the primary breadwinner, because even here in 2008, that is more often the case. Most women insist on marrying a man who earns more than they do. I just saw an article te other day where high-earning women were complaining that they couldn't find men to marry... because they wanted men who earn more than they do.
Thanks for the tip, Mrs. B. Roth.
>>I thought men get sex in exchange for financial support not housework.<<
ReplyDeleteThere was a story recently that tried to convince men that if they did more housework, they'd get more sex. I'm not sure I buy it.
But if men get sex in exchange for financial support, that would be prostitution.
I don't get it when someone implies women should be paid for mutually consensual sex, such as "We were together for three years and now it's over and I have nothing to show for it!" Uh, and what does he have to show for it? Sex? Well, the woman saying that had sex, too. I mean, if you don't like sex, don't do it (don't get married, either). "So you're an unpaid whore?" Same thing... I don't like the phrase because it implies women ought to be paid for sex.
Normal married men expect sex to be a regular part of marriage - as a mutually enjoyable experience. They should also expect to financially support their family, or they shouldn't get married unless they've found a woman who will truly be happy and respectful if he is a househusband while she earns. The wife OR husband should be willing to tend to their partner sexually, even when they aren't "in the mood" at first, because part of marriage is tending to the other person's needs, and heck... don't people enjoy bringing good feelings to their spouse?!?
Women who rely on a man to be the sole income earner should expect to be responsible for the housework.
First, I was making a joke about the sex for financial support. I have a bit of sense of humor. Sex and money are the top reasons for divorce. I think men and women use sex as a weapon in marriage. Whoever has the lower sex drive has the power so to speak. I have heard horror stories from both men and women about this. Helen Fisher, and I agree, states sex even when not in the mood can strengthened bonds. It’s like going on trip you were reluctant to at first, but once started you enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff, Mary Anne. It is hard to tell if people are joking when writing comments. At least it is hard for me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't understand these husbands who hold out. So they have a low sex drive... what about pleasing your wife? There are times when my wife thinks it is a good idea, and I think the timing could be better, but I don't care nearly as much about how it will turn out for me... I enjoy "playing" with her and giving her some nice moments.