Women Are Still Doing Most of the Housework

Women are still pulling more weight around the house than men, according to the American Time Use Survey data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday. However, men are starting to pick up the slack.

The BLS data reveal how much time Americans spent on various activities last year, from household work to leisure and sports — as well as time spent providing childcare.

Here are some interesting highlights from last year’s data:

1. On an average day, 83 percent of women and 65 percent of men spent some time doing household activities such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other household management.

2. On the days they did household activities, women spent an average of 2.6 hours on such activities, while men spent 2.1 hours.

3. On an average day, 19 percent of men did housework–such as cleaning or doing laundry–compared with 49 percent of women. 42 percent of men did food preparation or cleanup, compared with 68 percent of women.

4. On an average day, among adults living in households with children under age 6, women spent 1 hour providing physical care (such as bathing or feeding a child) to household children; by contrast, men spent 26 minutes providing physical care.

5. Men were more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise, or recreation on any given day–21 percent of men compared with 16 percent of women. On the days that they participated, men also spent more time in these activities than did women–1.9 hours compared with 1.3 hours.

6. On the days they worked, employed men worked 53 minutes more than employed women. This difference partly reflects women’s greater likelihood of working part-time. However, even among full-time workers (those usually working 35 hours or more per week), men worked longer than women–8.3 hours compared with 7.7 hours.