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The Mess at Home:America Has a Housework Gap
When I first meet Sharon, the analyst at an investment firm with two children, ages eight and five, she tells me she and her husband split family and home responsibilities fifty-fifty. That seems fair. They both work full time, and in fact Sharon significantly outearns her husband. But she quickly amends that statement. “It’s complicated, but it’s probably sixty-forty.”
Sharon says that while she does most of the indoor chores and he does most of the outdoor work, many of his assignments are task-oriented and take place once a week, whereas her assignments—laundry and child care, for example, are constant.
“Cars are totally on him. He stays on top of the oil tank and water tank. He’s much more into ...
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