I am shocked. I truly am. I am shocked that men are still not doing much of the housework even if their wives also have a full-time job, even if their wives are making more than their husbands and even if the women are also tasked with doing most of the childcare duties (and pet duties) in their homes.
Husbands will get away with as much as they can and mine is right up there with the rest, doing about 5% of the cooking and cleaning in the house and wanting an award ceremony when he does the dishes or makes his way to the refrigerator to make dinner. Granted, he’s 12 years older than I am and he works a physical job all day, but that shouldn’t absolve him of doing 95% of the housework.
My husband will be retiring sometime in the next year and I’ve told him that he’ll be doing 30% of the cooking and dishes. That’s still not enough – but it’s better than current circumstances. And even though he’s being let off the hook pretty easily, my comments were still met with a scoff and a joking attitude.
That’s fine. He’ll figure out that I’m serious soon enough. I don’t mind going on strike for a while. Yes, we’ll have to live in a pigsty for a while but I can shut the door of my new home office and ignore the rest of the house.
And I am more than able to live on guacamole toast, quesadillas, or a can of green beans for my sustenance. I am NOT picky at all about what I eat for meals. That’s just my point. I don’t have to eat a “meal” like my husband does – which is why I have to “cook.” I can eat small snacks like nachos or a salad. I don’t need to waste my time and energy dirtying-up pots and pans. The only thing I’d miss is the leftovers the next day.
The Daily Mail [1] has reported that I am not alone. They say that in about 45% of marriages, the wife is the main or only breadwinner – or that they bring in about the same amount of money to the household – but she still spends more than twice as many hours on household chores.
The Daily Mail also reports that wives do 4.6 hours of housework every week (that’s way too low) and that husbands spend about about half that amount of time on housework (that’s way too high).
What are the men busy doing? Watching TV, playing with their phones, texting, playing sports, hanging out with the guys, napping…
Occasionally they are seen mowing the grass or fixing the gutters. I suppose that counts as a household “chore” but I used to drive around my grandparent’s riding lawnmower listening to music on my walkman when I was 10-years-old and it wasn’t exactly a “chore.” You just have to aim yourself well and not hit a tree.