After reading this article, I am wondering whether it's fair that women are doing most of the housework and childcare. In almost all cultures, women are expected to play the lead role in the home. Even in Sweden, a country that ranks high for gender equality, 3/4th of all housework is done by women. Do you think that women should do most of the household chores/childcare, or do you think the responsibility should be evenly distributed between husband and wife? What reforms can be enacted to change this trend? Kindly do not post one sentence responses such as "no I think it's unfair" or "I think women should take care of the kids."
I'd say it should be the decision of the woman, really. If she wants to be a stay-at-home mom and take care of the kids & household, then sure. If she, however, wants to work, she should be able to. By which I do not mean that the man should just do all the housework. In the case of both man and woman working I think they should find a good balance where they both do some of the housework, etc.
You can do housework without multitasking though. You could first clean the bathroom, then cook dinner and then do laundry. No problem there.
I think in a household it should be everyone's responsibility. If you live in a home, you should help clean and maintain that home, whether you are male or female. I dont live in a house with any men in it though, so women do all of the housework xD When I lived with my ex, we had just had our son, and I was the stay at home mom. I wanted that, it was awesome bonding time. I didn't want to go back to work, I wanted to stay home with the baby, and hang around the house, and do the housewife thing. A few months later, I figured it was time to venture back out into the world, and went back to work. At that time, the housework share became pretty much equal. Then he got laid off from work, and became the stay at home dad, doing all of the housework, etc. We definitely adapted the housework load to fit our situation. Sometimes I did it, sometimes he did. We didnt really see it as man or womans work, it was like, this needs to get done, so Ill do it.
at the end of the day, if a woman does not want to do all the housework etc. she should feel enough courage to talk to her partner to emphasise her desire to change her lifestyle.
I second that, if the woman doesn't feel comfortable enough around her partner to tell him she wants to change the current lifestyle, she probably shouldn't be in that relationship in the first place.
I think we should all be happy and hire a maid, regardless of the gender. Really... I hate doing housework! The only thing I like to do is cooking, but only when I'm in the mood for it. But in a healthy relationship it doesn't matter who does what, although after centuries of women living for their houses and to take care of the children, it's quite difficult to change that view. It's almost some kind of taboo...
Ideally, in a family with children, one parent should work (the parent with a better job) and the other should stay at home. The one who stays at home should have to do most but not all of the housework. I don't really care whether the man or the women stays at home and does the housework.
I think that both parents should do housework and childcare, it belongs to both genders jobs. Im woman and i wouldnt be happy if i would have to go to work and then do all the housework and childcare.. Just my opinion..
Sadly, this is what usually happens. Men who have a job are merely expected to work, while women who have a job are expected to work and take care of the kids/chores. It seems that traditional gender roles remain quite entrenched in society.
well, for me, i am a guy, but i think it should be shared, because it's important to share the jobs/tasks and both parents should also have jobs just because i'm still a teenager and i don't have a strong bond with my dad ever.
Having lived with 4 guys, and now just my boyfriend, I think that it is completely unfair. It's less that it is expected and more that they just aren't even aware of how much they expect us females to do. When I was working less than my boyfriend, it didn't bother me that I did most of the housework. Now that I'm working and in graduate school, I really wish he would pick up the slack...but no matter what I say, I still end up doing the housework. I think men need to do a lot more around the house than they do.
It depends entirely on the employment situation. If a couple lives together, the man works and woman doesn't, then yes, it is entirely the woman's duty to keep the house in order. That's not to say the man shouldn't pitch in and pick up after himself, though. Likewise, if a woman is employed and a man is not, then it falls to the man to maintain the house. If both are employed, then it's an even split. Of course, if one works part time and the other full time, then the partner working part time should pick up the bulk of the household responsibility. It's not a question of gender roles any more, it's simply a question of employment.
well, employment, yes that plays a huge role, but most guys proberly won't even do it if there wasn't an employment issue in it. that's what i think and i'm a guy.
I agree that it should be a matter of employment, the problem is that it isn't. I think the difference there comes from how much you care about whether the house is clean, and the truth is that usually women care more.
Exactly... Whichever adult in the household is working and making more money, or has a more important job than the other, then the person making less should do the housework...typically woman because men tend to be the breadwinners in a family
But why do men tend to be the breadwinners? Perhaps it is simply because of deeply ingrained societal gender roles that causes people to expect women to do the housework. After all, even in families where both spouses make around the same, women end up doing most of the cooking, childcare, etc..
well because women tend to have babies and they often are on leave for a while because of that and that would effect that because the women isn't working anymore, and then when they need a person to stay home, the mom would stay home and look after the kids. That's what i think too. (partially employment related)
Good point, but usually maternity leave isn't that long, is it? After giving birth to the child, the woman should still be able to go back to work easily if the husband chooses to stay at home. Of course, this never happens because society does not expect men to do so and frowns upon women who dare to leave childcare to the men.