Housework is changing: Men overestimate their effort!

Housework is changing: Men overestimate their effort!

In today's world, most couples are probably very familiar with the challenges of housework. A recent survey now shows that 49.3% of respondents never argue about housework. It is also exciting that 50.8% of the participants do not take part in disputes, like hessenschau.de reported. However, the reality could be different for the partners, as it remains unclear whether the assessments agree.

The most common conflict topics over housework are easy to list: The top three are cleaning the bathroom (12.1%), cleaning the kitchen (9.0%) and loading or unloading the dishwasher (6.8%). There are fewer arguments when it comes to washing laundry, which, with 3.5% of mentions, is not as often a bone of contention. This is particularly interesting to consider in light of the comment boxes that develop in such surveys.

The perspective of men and women

A more recent look at the numbers also shows a remarkable trend mdr.de illuminated. According to this, 70 percent of men with full-time jobs say that they take care of the household together or mostly together. In comparison, however, this is only 49 percent of working women. Labor market expert Michaela Hermann emphasizes that full-time work does not guarantee a fair distribution of household tasks. Traditional gender roles maintain the unequal distribution of housework and care work.

This inequality has far-reaching consequences for women's professional participation, as their income and pensions are hit. Luisa Kunze, also an expert, emphasizes that many women do not return to work, especially after having children. In order for everything to be a little fairer, men have to take on more responsibility in the household and family. Flexible working time models could make a crucial difference here.

Conflicts in relationship life

The study “Gender roles, housework, couple conflicts”, published by FReDA, deals with the topic of gender roles and their effects on household distribution. Here, too, it can be seen that despite more equality in the distribution of tasks, women often bear the main responsibility for cleaning, cooking and laundry. Dissatisfaction in relationships increases when work is distributed unfairly.

In the study, women only rated their satisfaction with housework at 6.7 out of 10 points if they did the laundry regularly. Men who do this task alone feel similarly dissatisfied, but less often. Extrapolation shows that the happiness of both partners only really flourishes when the tasks are evenly distributed. Leisure activities and other life issues also harbor potential for conflict, which often varies over the years.

Overall, one thing remains clear: Even if the surveys send positive signals, there is a lot to be done to achieve a fairer division of housework. There are some challenges there!