A study of 2,000 adults found six in 10 still have ‘set’ chores to look after – despite 74 per cent believing ‘pink and blue jobs’ are totally outdated.
Women tend to take charge of the cooking, dusting and vacuuming, while men are most likely to be responsible for washing the car, unclogging plugholes and the DIY jobs, such as replacing lightbulbs.
And in 54 per cent of homes, men are also most likely to handle the lion’s share of cutting the grass.
But descaling the shower, looking after pets and steaming the carpet are shared equally between household members.
Charmaine Warner, spokesperson for Indesit, which commissioned the survey, said: “Even though ‘pink and blue’ jobs seem like an outdated concept, it does appear that these clichés are still around in our society, without us really noticing.
“But it’s great to see that there are some chores which are shared equally between all parties.”
Expert psychologist Dr Emma Hepburn commented: “Gendered expectations, and ingrained beliefs about who does what in the household, are likely to play a role in both the development of behaviours in children and the perpetuation of behaviours in society.
“It’s important to get the whole family involved in housework and make it fun for children from an early age.”
The survey also revealed a difference in how men and women go about chores, and found women are also more likely to think about them ‘a lot’ than men.
And women think they do the most work in the house (72 per cent) as opposed to only 35 per cent of men.
While a quarter of men happily admitted their female partner does the most chores.
Although, men said they spent two hours and 15 minutes a week on things such as the food shop, fixing things, cooking, gardening and cleaning bathrooms – just seven minutes less than women.
While both males and females carry out chores four days per week on average.
However, women are more likely to take shortcuts with household jobs, along with those in full-time employment.
The study by OnePoll revealed barriers to completing chores include already having done too many, not having enough time and a lack of effective appliances.
While almost two thirds of women think ahead about the household jobs (62 per cent) and are less likely to relax until chores are done (58 per cent).
Men are more likely to undertake chores if they visibly need to be done (49 per cent) such as washing up a big pile of plates because there are no clean ones left.
Dr Emma Hepburn added: “The mental load does tend to fall more to women, and this is a combination of the cognitive load (the thinking and planning) and emotional load (the worrying and anticipation of tasks).
“The additional worry and cognitive load can lead to exhaustion and could impact on cognitive skills, such as difficulty concentrating, and carving out time for your own wellbeing.
This unequal division in the household may cause increased pressure and stress which can lead to tension or arguments.”
The Indesit #DoItTogether campaign encourages chore collaboration at home so that families have more time to spend together doing the things they love.
