Dish washer or car washer? Gender divide alive and well

SO MUCH for the sexual revolution. When it comes to chores around the home, the gender divide appears to be as yawning a chasm as it was before the Swinging Sixties.

A survey of 2,000 British households has found that certain tasks are still divided along male-female lines, despite decades of demands for equality in every walk of life.

Men are still expected to carry out "blue" jobs, which include catching spiders, mowing the lawn, unblocking the toilet and washing the car, while women deal with "pink" tasks such as the laundry, vacuum cleaning, changing the beds and booking the family holidays.

The researchers found that, while men dedicate just 38 minutes a day to cleaning and tidying the house, women spend nearly an hour and a half.

Nearly half of the households surveyed admitted there was an unspoken rule that women did one set of jobs while men did another.

Dr Marysia Zalewski, the director of the Centre for Gender Studies at Aberdeen University, said: "These statistics are really interesting and it is really significant because it does show that nothing much has changed."

The study of household habits, commissioned by electrical goods maker Philips, found that men were more likely to be delegated tasks of "bravery and courage" - such as investigating strange noises in the night and removing spiders from the bath.

They also enjoy a stroll to the shops to buy Sunday papers and an excursion to the refuse tip or top up the car with oil or petrol.

Women can be found in the kitchen - cleaning the oven, binning out-of-date food and washing up after dinner. Men only step into the kitchen to help undo tight lids on a jars or carve the Sunday roast.

Seven in ten said one sex was genuinely better than the other sex at doing some things, while one in ten said they purposefully ignored a job - so their other half ended up doing it.

More than a third end up arguing over jobs - averaging three times a week for a total of 39 minutes, or three months during an average lifetime.

Dr Zalewski added: "This kind of division of labour is widespread. And, while it can sound quite trivial, when you look at the time spent by women on household tasks that builds up over the years.

"Women are still doing a massive amount of the housework which, of course, takes away from the time they can devote to other issues."That is certainly related to wider issues about unequal pay and women not being in the top jobs.

"They are connected because women are still doing so much more unpaid and unrecognised work which is seen as less important while the blue jobs are seen as kind of more important, more manly and more skilful, while the pink jobs are often seen as just 'what women do' naturally.

"The home is where it starts and continues. We have lots of equality legislation but it doesn't really get to the heart of where inequality continues."

Andrew Martin, author of A Man's Guide to Ironing, Dusting and Other Household Arts, said: "Men are still not doing enough about the house. If they did more housework, especially more ironing - which is one of the most time-consuming jobs - there'd be a lot fewer arguments, and probably a significant fall in the divorce rate."

THE ten jobs men do the most.

Topping up the car's oil

Getting things out of the loft

Investigating strange noises in the night

Going to the tip

Doing DIY jobs around the house

Mowing the lawn

Washing the car

Changing lightbulbs

Removing spiders

Unblocking the toilet

The ten jobs women do the most.

Washing clothes

Changing bed linen

Dusting

Hanging out the washing

Ironing

Organising the calendar

Childcare

Cleaning the oven

Vacuuming

Replacing toilet roll