We know that men and women don’t always see eye-to-eye, and when it comes to our perceptions of who does the majority of the household chores, it would appear our perspectives couldn’t be further apart.
As it turns out, nearly half of all men believe they do as much housework as their partner.
The insights came from parenting website Netmums, which recently surveyed 2,000 parents to determine how they divvied up the childcare and chores in their household.
Although both genders agreed that the work should be split evenly, the results found that 40% of men believed this actually happens in their homes, while only 20% of their partners agreed.
Moreover, almost 74% of the female participants believed they were doing the lion’s share of the work, regardless of their working hours. Netmums editor-in-chief Annie O’Leary believed the findings were in line with what most of us already know to be true.
“The data speaks for itself,” O’Leary said (quote via The Independent).
“That’s a lot of women sharing what can, at times, be an almost unbearable burden.”
In terms of why there is such a discrepancy in perceptions, O’Leary put it down to “centuries of parenting that has seen men take a backseat and women shoulder the burden.”
“Yes, dads today are doing more today but—clearly—it’s only a fraction of what’s required,” she added. “So, we all still have a long way to go.”
