Women's work never done – and it's worth £33,000

Published on Monday 16 March 2009 00:14

MOTHERS do almost £33,000 worth of jobs around the house free of charge every year – 40 per cent more than fathers, shows research out today.

Women spend an average of 74 hours a week on household chores and childcare, tasks that it would cost 32,812 to pay someone else to do, according to insurer Legal and General.

In contrast, it is claimed men spend only 53 hours a week on domestic tasks, although it would still cost 23,296 to pay someone else for the equivalent work.

Within these totals, women spend 33 hours a week looking after children, 50 per cent more than the 21.5 hours which men devote to their offspring each week.

Full-time mothers put in the most work around the house, carrying out an average of 82 hours' worth of jobs each week, while women who work full-time fit in 55 hours of chores and childcare on a weekly basis.

The insurer said the value of work carried out by mothers in a year had increased by more than 8,000 since it last conducted the research in 2005.

Alan Ferguson, of Legal & General, said: "Mums are a rock for many families, making sure that the home runs smoothly, that the children are looked after and often holding down a job of their own."

A third of parents questioned said they would rely on grandparents to help look after children if one of them died, while 30 per cent said they would work part-time.

Three-quarters of working mothers said they felt under pressure to work to help pay the bills, although 52 per cent insisted they did not just work for the money.

Only 17 per cent of people pay someone to help out around the house, despite 27 per cent saying cleaning and tidying up is the job they least like doing.

• Bdifferent questioned 1,000 parents during January.