In another case of empirical data backing up our already-widespread understandings, recently released data reveals that women do far more housework than men. The report is here.
This Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that 2003 to 2007, women spent an average of 10.8 hours more each week doing unpaid housework than men. Lest we think this is a disparity passing with the generations, it’s worth noting that the largest sex differential is between men and women in the 25- to 34-year old cohort, where women spend 31.7 hours a week compared to men’s 15.8 hours. Although the gap narrows for older people, it’s worth considering that it is in one’s 20s and 30s that one establishes one’s professional situation for life, and the fact that women spend twice as much time as men on housework would seem closely connected to the economic inequality between men and women.
Deborah Solomon covers the report for the WSJ here.
-Darren Rosenblum
