Men and women could be doing an equal share of housework by 2050 says study

An Oxford University study says if current trends continue, women will probably have to wait until 2050 before men are doing an equal share of the household chores and childcare. According to the paper published in the latest issue of the journal Sociology, 'substantial and persistent obstacles' remain.

The international study, conducted by the ESRC-funded Centre for Time Use Research at Oxford, has analysed more than 348,000 diary days from 20-59-year-olds in 16 countries. It finds that we are in the middle of a 70-80 year trend towards equality in housework and caring.

Barriers to equality include the gender-specific view of whether certain household chores were 'men's' or 'women's work'.  'Routine housework' such as cleaning, cooking and caring for family members is viewed as 'feminine'  while 'masculine' roles include non-routine chores like DIY, car care and outside work.

The amount of time women spend on routine housework still 'dwarfs' time spent on non-routine domestic jobs carried out by men.  Nevertheless, there is evidence to show that the gender gap in housework and child care has been narrowing gradually.

Women's time spent on caring and chores in the home declined gradually from about 360 minutes a day in the 1960s for both the UK and US to 280 and 272 minutes, respectively, in the early 2000s. In the UK and the US, men went from spending 90 and 105 minutes a day, respectively, on housework and child care in the 1960s to 148 and 173 minutes in the early part of this millennium. However, the data suggests that the upward trend for men may have levelled off in some countries in recent years.

Dr Oriel Sullivan, a Research Reader from the Department of Sociology, said: 'Even though women are still responsible for the major share of unpaid work, studies suggest that the gender gap in the time spent doing both paid and unpaid work is closing slowly. We've looked at what is hampering equality in the home, and we have found that certain tasks seem to be allocated according to whether they are viewed as ''men's'' or ''women's work''.