Study Suggests That “having A Husband” Means 7 Hours More Work

The title of this article may have annoyed many people. Some may think that “having or not having a husband is NOT a direct cause” of a woman having more or less responsibility at home. We are simply talking about the inequalities that continue to exist in many homes. This is something that the University of Michigan wanted to analyze in a study. The results were very clear: women today still continue to be responsible for more work in the home.

Of course, and we need to make this very clear, we can not generalize.

We all know of households where the exact opposite is true, and men take care of almost everything. There are also couples out there who have an almost perfect and fair distribution of every task in the family.

That said, let’s take a look at the information from this interesting study.

Gender differences between husband and wife

This news is not exactly new. In fact, the University of Michigan used a database on family dynamics from the Institute for Social Research that has been compiled since 1968.

The idea was to carry out a current study to see how the distribution of housework has changed over several decades. The result was published by the Reuters agency, and can be summarized as follows.

Inequality in distribution: women usually do more work in the home

Despite new times, the awakening of new consciousness and legislative changes that try to reconcile life and family work, men continue to bring home a higher wage.

• Women are usually those who choose to give up their work and professional responsibilities, temporarily or permanently, in order to dedicate themselves to raising children and take responsibility for more work in the home.
• When the conditions are the same, ie when both parties work, the women at the general level will still continue to dedicate several hours a week to more work at home and with the children.
• There are differences from generation to generation. Women older than 60 years dedicate up to 28 hours a week to take care of the house.
• Women with 3 children also devote more time to paying attention to children and houses, much more than their husbands.

• The rest of the women with partners devote on average 7 hours more a week than their husbands or partners  to daily housework and to children, if they have them.

And it is also not surprising to learn that in the past these differences were much more pronounced. In 1976, for example, the average time women devoted to household chores was around 26, while the man devoted only 6.

Inequality in caring for relatives

This is one of the most relevant facts. A couple can distribute the care and upbringing of smaller children in a perfect way.

However, when it comes to paying attention to relatives, whether elderly or other family members with greater physical limitations, the responsibility tends to fall on the woman.

So here we see how tradition and the system where women play the role they have always had in the private sphere within the home. They are the ones who take care of and give attention to family members in addition to the housework.

So let’s point out again that of course all families have their own dynamics. There are thousands of men, partners and husbands who take responsibility for this task. However, according to this study conducted at the University of Michigan, these differences continue to be noticeable.

Change awareness and learn about gender equality

We have moved a little forward since the time when our grandmothers and mothers saw it as their responsibility to take care of and devote themselves to more work at home.

But there are other things we need to keep in mind as well: each couple makes their own arrangements according to their situation and special needs.

• Housework is the responsibility of both parties if both work. Equal terms, equal investment.
• If an agreement is reached where one party decides to stay home and take care of the children so that the other party earns the money if their job is better, this is a respectable decision.
• So real inequality arises when both parties have equal personal relationships, but only one invests and dedicates his time, while the other “takes for granted” that this is what their roles are, and that is how it should be.

• This is not correct. You need to change your awareness and invest in gender equality, as well as between responsibilities and opportunities.

This is only achieved through a respectful education where children are taught from an early age that we are all part of the team. Men and women have the same rights, and we are all people with needs and obligations.