When we imagine a disgruntled housewife, we might picture a woman from some time in the 1950s — hair perfectly coiffed, wearing a dress, an apron, and a pair of heels. Her makeup, which is of course, expertly applied, helps to hide some of her discontent.
For all of the effort and energy that was once — and sometimes still is — devoted to maintaining appearances, we know now that many of those women were deeply unsatisfied with their roles in the home. New research suggests that not much has changed. Modern women are still doing the bulk of household duties, even though many now also hold full-time jobs.
Women are doing double the household work compared to men.
Women spend double the amount of time completing household chores and caregiving compared to their male partners, a study published in the medical journal The Lancet Public Health found.
Not only are we doing more unpaid labor than men, the discrepancy is negatively impacting our mental health and eventually leads to burnout.
The study included data from 70,000 people.
Researchers collected data from over 70,000 individuals from 19 different studies conducted around the world, according to Good Morning America. Women in the US spent four and a half hours a day caring for their families and homes, while men spent just 2.8 hours doing the same or similar work.
Not only that, but it's clear that all the additional work women shoulder takes a toll on their well-being.
Women take on more responsibility for daily tasks.
Eve Rodsky, the author of Fair Play, says the type of labor also predicts how much time is dedicated to a task and when it must be done. "Men hold cards that they can do at their own timetable, like mowing the lawn, whereas women are the ones still, to this day, responsible for tasks like meal planning, responsible for grocery shopping and responsible for things like going to get their children when they're sick, if a school calls," Rodsky said.
Specific chores cause the most negative feelings.
Rodsky also came up with a list of chores most likely to negatively impact mental health. At the top of the list were laundry, grocery shopping, and planning/preparing meals. The reasons women take on more household work has to do with patterns.
Many women found that because their male partners weren’t given as much paternity leave as they were maternity leave, the brunt of unpaid labor fell on women and it continued even after mothers went back to work.
Rodsky offered rules to make housework more equal.
Rodsky provided some strategies to help women balance out the division of labor with their male partners. The tips include time management exercises, and four key rules that parents can consider.
1. All time is created equal. The free time women and men have is limited and should be equally valued. Rodsky said people tend to believe the men’s time is finite, like diamonds, while women’s is infinite, like sand.
2. Reclaim your right to be interesting. Both partners are entitled to their own time to pursue their passions outside of the home.
3. Start where you are now. Start with an idea of what you want in your division of household labor, and know what you’d like to get out of the change.
4. Establish household values and standards. Determine which tasks are most important to your family, and discuss how
they’ll be handled.
It might not be perfect, but prioritizing these things will likely help avoid the dreaded burnout.
