Women Are Doing More Housework Than Their Male Counterparts

New findings published in the Journal of Marriage and Family show that men with children are likely to do less work than their female counterparts.

Researchers at Ohio State University (OSU) found that many new parents, including women, tended to carry the majority of the workload when it came to household obligations following the birth of the first child. 

Study findings revealed that the husband's workload increased by 40 minutes when a baby entered the picture, but the wife's share increased by up to two hours.

"Women ended up shouldering a lot more of the work that comes with a new baby, even though both men and women thought they added the same amount of additional work," said Professor Claire Kamp Dush, co-author of the the study, via The Daily Mail. 

For the study, researchers analyzed data from 182 couples who were well-educated and both made stable earnings. The participants also said they divided their housework equally and continued working even after the birth of the child.

Participants were studied throughout the final three months of the pregnancy and then again when the baby reached nine months. However, findings revealed that equal division of household work seemed to decrease more. Furthermore, researchers discovered that while the women's responsibilities also increased at home, her time at the office did not decrease at all.

"The woman is doing more of the housework and more of the childcare, while not doing any less paid work," Kamp Dush added.

The study results emphasize how an egalitarian relationship was uncommon for most participating couples, specifically when it came to childcare.