The facts about household chores-over 2 hours a day
Posted by Charles Batchelor on December 8, 2007
The U. S. Census Bureau interviewed of about 21,000 individuals beginning in January 2003. Respondents were interviewed only once and reported their activities for the 24-hour period from 4 a.m. on the day before the interview until 4 a.m. on the day of the interview–their “diary day.” If respondents reported doing more than one activity at a time, they were asked to identify which activity was primary. Activities were then grouped into categories for analysis.
Here is some of what they learned about household activities:
On an average day in 2003, 84 percent of women and 63 percent of men spent some time doing household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other household management.
Twenty percent of men reported doing housework–such as cleaning or doing laundry–compared with 55 percent of women. About 35 percent of men did food preparation or cleanup versus 66 percent of women.
Women who reported doing household activities on the diary day spent about 2.8 hours on such activities while men spent 2.1 hours.
