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New tech aims to help couples divide domestic chores more equally. About time, says Maria Lally
IF THERE WAS ever an anecdote to sum up why Starling Bank is right to launch a housework app called Share the Load, it’s this: last Sunday, I went to see a show in London with friends. We made a day of it, having lunch beforehand and drinks after wards. Arriving home at 9pm, I stumbled over a pile of muddy football boots from my daughter’s match that morning. Then I found her dirty kit on the bathroom floor, a pile of clean clothes ready to be put away, untouched, and a laundry basket overflowing. As for my husband? I found him with his feet up in front of the TV.
Anybody reading this will no doubt judge him, but he does pull his weight. Just not as much as he thinks he does. Or as equally as I’d like (we both work).
Little wonder, then, that somebody at Starling Bank came up with this app idea ( probably a female executive, as she WhatsApped her husband on her way to a meeting to remind him to buy toilet paper).
Their research found most couples disagree over who does more housework, with those who don’t divide it equally having on average five chore-related arguments per month (I predict this will triple in the lead-up to Christmas, with all the extra workload).
The app has categories such as House, Pets and Food, but I’d suggest one more : Mental Load, which is the crushing weight of remembering every single thing about running your household, from buying milk and washing the bedding to knowing the times of your children’s after-school clubs and booking the dentist appointments.
Because despite couples disagreeing over who does most, the science is pretty clear:
