Women Still Bear Most Household Chores in the US... "Not Equal"

Although Income Between Men and Women Has Become Similar, Household Chore Imbalance Remains

Even in the United States, where women's contribution to household finances has recently increased, it has been revealed that the burden of housework still falls disproportionately on women.

On the 13th (local time), the American online media Axios reported the results of a survey by the Pew Research Center, stating that "marriage is becoming more equal except for housework."

According to the Pew Research Center's analysis of government data on heterosexual couples aged 25 to 64, the proportion of couples with similar incomes between husband and wife was 11% in 1972 but rose to 29% in 2022.

The proportion of couples where the husband earned more was 85% in 1972 but decreased to 55% last year, while couples where the wife earned more increased from 5% in 1972 to 16% last year.

The Pew Research Center defined couples with similar incomes as "egalitarian marriages," but pointed out that in reality, women spend more time than men on "unpaid work," such as childcare and housework.

In egalitarian marriages, the time spent on "paid work" was 44.2 hours per week for husbands and 41.1 hours for wives, but leisure time was more than three and a half hours longer per week for husbands (25.2 hours) than for wives (21.6 hours).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the other hand, wives spent an average of 4.6 hours per week on housework, more than twice as much as husbands (1.9 hours). In caregiving labor such as childcare, wives spent an average of 6.9 hours per week, while men spent only 5.1 hours.

Even among couples where the wife earns more than 60% of the income, husbands participated less in housework and caregiving than wives. Couples where the husband spends more time on caregiving than the wife were only those where the wife was the breadwinner, accounting for just 6% of the total.

Kim Parker of the Pew Research Center told the U.S. public broadcaster NPR, "It is definitely not equal. It is still unbalanced. Definitely not equal."

In a separate survey conducted by the Pew Research Center with 5,152 respondents, 57% answered that "society values men's work outside the home more than their work at home." This suggests that social perceptions may influence the imbalance in egalitarian marriages.

In contrast, only 20% answered that "women's work outside the home is valued more," and 31% said that "society values women's contributions at home more."