U.S. men are contributing to household work more than ever
Men spent an average of 100 minutes per day in 2024 doing household activities such as laundry and cleaning, an increase of 20 minutes from 2003 and the most of any of the years captured in the American Time Use Survey.
But the gap is closing, slowly. In 2003, the first year of the survey, women worked an hour more than men on the home. In 2024, women worked 40 minutes more. At this rate, housework will be equal sometime around the year 2066.
The additional work from men is most apparent in food preparation and cleanup. Men spent an average of 16 minutes per day cooking in 2003 — that value has since jumped to 28 minutes.
The survey, which each year asks thousands of Americans 15 and older how they spent their past 24 hours, is designed to develop a 'nationally representative estimate of how people spend their time.'
Sociologists have said the growth in men's household work may indicate broader progress toward gender equality. In a recent study, scholars used the 2003-2023 time use data to analyze changes in men's and women's daily housework.
Cooking, along with other routine and frequent tasks such as house cleaning and laundry, is referred to as 'core' housework, which has traditionally been seen as feminine.
The shift in men's work, largely concentrated in cooking and cleaning, has been particularly pronounced since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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