Who Does Most of the Housework in a Work-at-Home Mom's Family?

For the typical two-parent American household, I'll put my money on mom, work at home or not. And I've got the U.S. Department of Labor to back me up.

According to its 2008 time usage survey, women do more housework, more often than men. OK, so this probably isn't news to most of us. But it's interesting to look at the data.

Eighty three percent of women and 64 percent of men spent some time on an average day doing household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care or financial and other household management. And to break it down a little bit more:

"On an average day, 20 percent of men did housework--such as cleaning or
doing laundry--compared with 50 percent of women. Thirty-eight percent
of men did food preparation or cleanup compared with 65 percent of women."

And when you calculated how much time each group sent on these activities, on the days when they do them, women spent about 30 minutes more on these jobs. Incidentally, men spent about a half hour more on leisure activities. But when it comes to child care, the difference is even more stark:

"On an average weekday, among adults living in households with children
under 6, women spent 1.2 hours providing physical care (such as bathing
or feeding a child) to household children; by contrast, men spent 0.4
hour (23 minutes)."

Wow!

But I'm not trying to bash men because both men and women are responsible for these statistics. (And keep in mind these figures take into account families with stay-at-home moms.)

And in the reality of our day-to-day lives, defining an average day or a typical family can be tough, especially for work-at-home moms. Logically, some household duties and child care are going to fall on the parent who is home most. But that doesn't mean the other parent should get a free ride.

You can't work, watch kids, cook meals and keep the house in order, while leaving no work to be done for when your spouse arrives home. Even if you drop the work part and talk only about stay-at-home moms, you can't do it. Or at least you shouldn't.

Parenthood is a team sport, and both men and women have to keep that in mind. So sometimes mom needs to know when to pass the ball.

More From other About.com Guides:

• Maternal Gatekeeping - Marriage
• Chores, Chores, Chores - Marriage