13 August 2013

The Battle Over Housework

A study showed that Swedish women do 66% of the housework. In Greece women do 80% and in the United Kingdom women do 70%. In Canada, according to a Stats Canada study, women do about 58% of the housework.

This takes me back to a previous post about labour division, where I pointed out the quantity of hours worked by males is higher than females. But I think this time it would be worthwhile to break it down to percentages.

Looking at 20-29 year olds of the baby-boomers, gen x, and gen y, this is the break down:

  • Baby-boomers:
    • Women did 73% of housework, 42% of paid work = 115%
    • Men did 27% of housework, 58% of paid work = 85%
  • Generation X
    • Women did 67% of housework, 43% of paid work = 110%
    • Men did 33% of housework, 57% of paid work = 90%
  • Generation Y
    • Women did 58% of housework, 43% of paid work = 101%
    • Men did 42% of housework, 57% of paid work = 99%
It is almost on par for Generation Y in terms of an equal distribution of labor. So I find the new study around housework, while an issue overseas, isn't as much of an issue here in Canada, and we should celebrate it.