Worth sharing
The CHORE WARS are still not DONE &DUSTED
We do less housework than we used to and the iron is on the way out, but midlife women continue to carry the domestic load. This is what you told us in our survey…
65% of women said they did all or most of the chores, even if they live with a partner.
The biggest dream across all age groups is to travel more.
27% increase in sales of steamers, reported by the GHI, while sales of irons declined 28%.
Hate doing the ironing? Join the club. It’s the chore we dread most but, thankfully, most of us say we now avoid it. In fact, the amount of time many of us spend doing housework has fallen to just a few hours a week – result!
That’s what you told us in our survey to find out the way we live in 2024. We carried out the study to celebrate the centenary of the Good Housekeeping Institute, launched to revolutionise housework by testing all the new appliances that were coming on the market. It was to support GH’s founding premise ‘there should be no drudgery in the house’, and is still the beating heart of what we do today.
As it turns out, these labour-saving devices have been a huge boon. Even just five years ago, nearly half of us were spending more than five hours a week on cleaning, with a third saying it was more than 10 hours*. By contrast, our latest results show that 42% of us spend between one and three hours a week on household chores, excluding cooking, while another 29% reported that it takes between three to five hours of their time every week.
42% spend between one and three hours a week on chores.
41% of us would like a housework robot.
88% of women under 45 say there are not enough hours in the day.
And it’s worth noting that the decline is not a case of saving time by paying other people to do the work for us – only 3% in our survey said they used the services of a cleaner.
When the GHI opened in 1924, the then-new electric iron was among the first appliances to be tested. Now, however, it seems it’s something many would like relegated to the past, with 16% of you saying that, if you had a magic wand to do one chore, you’d choose to have your ironing done.
And, while magic may not be an option, we are seeking out easier ways to get the job done. ‘Overall, our readers seem to be looking for alternatives to the traditional steam iron,’ says Hannah Mendelsohn, homes editor of today’s GHI. ‘They aren’t leaving their clothes uncared for; instead, they’re turning to steamers or powerful steam-generator irons, which make it easier to keep their clothes smart and crease-free.’ Indeed, the GHI reports sales of Tried & Tested steamers going up 27% this year, while sales of irons were down 28%.
WHAT HAPPENED TO GIRL POWER?
Nearly 2,500 women and men answered our ques
