My husband thinks I can't iron shirts. ;)
Then again he does a good job making out that he can't find anything!

I guess it all averages out in the end. There really are more important things to worry about.

Work is 'work', that's why they pay you! The "Nappy change"
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This article falls into the feminist trap of talking only about 'housework'. What about 'work-work?

Australian fathers do 23hrs a week more work-work than mothers (ABS). Put another way "Fathers work an average of 47 hours per week and 33% reported working over 50 hours per week. A significant number of fathers experienced high levels of stress, insufficient time for family and believed strongly that the major barrier to being an effective parent was commitment to paid work. 68% of fathers said they did not spend enough time with their children. (Federal FACS study "Fitting fathers into families" 1999)

I don't care about house-work and work-work, I just want it to be fair. Australian dads do the lions share of all work, especially when you include unpaid overtime, commuting to a distant 'career' job, preparing that submission or doing quotes on weekends...

Young Australians, men and women work similar hours and women probably get paid more (I can reference this). But once Australians become parents, it all changes. Australian mothers have the luxury of taking the "nappy change" while their husbands are left to pay for it all... suddenly instead of being a DINK, they have two dependants and still the mortgage has to be paid.

Tragically, while Australian mothers take the "nappy change" and never work seriously again, Australian men actually INCREASE their working hours once they become fathers!

I just want it to be fair... Dads do all the work!

(PS I have recently pulled together the numbers from the ABS on this. Full-time-workers-by-gender-and-age, full-time-workers-by-gender-and-marital-status-over-the-last-decade, etc. It's true! Australian women have a baby and never work seriously again. Australian fathers work massive hours and their children miss out.

I'm happy to forward you this reseach if you are interested. PartTimeParent@yahoo.com.au

I am female, do 80% work around the house, look after all the finances, work longer hours and earn the higher salary.

According to my husband he does half the housework. I suggested that cooking and washing up alone was more time than he spent doing weekly chores to which he replied. Cooking isn't housework.

I have tried to come to terms with the reality that I have higher standards than he has so either I live like he did in his batchelor days (a pig sty) or just put up and shut up.

Verdant

He must have some redeeming qualities or consider giving him the flick.

partTimeParent

Again the quality of your writing stands out. Certainly above West's.

While Nicholas writes well his generalisations do not cover my situation.

I'm a specialist house-husband (and writer on intelligence issues).

I do 80% of the housework and 80% of the cooking (Chinese, Italian, Indian - I get good reviews).

While my partner potters in the garden one hour a week she lets me mow several hours a week when I'm not painting the roof.

This arrangement works well. I do my bit because I recognise that my partner works long hours (as a physio) earning most of the money.

I don't accept theories that women can innately cook and clean better.

Pete

A great comment by Pedant..."We know that loving each other is more important than worrying about the housework anyway"

In other words this things only become an issue when people lose sight of the bigger picture or become selfish.

For the "Pru Goward bloc" love is an equal number of dishes washed. Its sad isn't it?

Well partTimeParent it proves there are correct and incorrect statistics even at the ABS.

I wonder how they determined those results... Did blokes fill out the survey... and how do you verify those sort of statistics.

As a father who does all the cooking and helps earn the family income I must be a poor speciman of a male.

My wife would easily do 80% of the housework and is at least equal with the work-work, oh and the taking care of the kids as well. Also time at work is not a reasonable assessment. In all the work situations I ever saw it's the women who do the best most efficient work.

Ask an insurance agent when doing life insurance who generally is the most valuable asset to a family and it is almost always the woman by at least 30%.

If you truly believe what those ABS statistics are saying then go visit a mate ... and watch all the things the woman of the house does whilst you are chatting. They usually don't stop!

If the ABS statistics reflect you and plantagenet as males then I dips my hat to both of you, you're wives got the best blokes on the block... You both are in the top 2% of males in the housework stakes ....but perhaps both your missus' might like to tell us what they think...lol

Just to be fair...lol!

Now I hope this isn't taken as sexist but there may be something innate about women's skills but from my observations they are usually hard learnt. In my family my brother and I did virtually nothing whilst the sisters had to help our mother clean the house. In most families that I have ever seen the girls are trained from a very early age usually by their mothers to clean and cook.

Domestic blindness is usually a male condition in most houses I see. I suffer it - so again you guys beat me there too.