Photo: Getty
Married moms spend more time on choresand get less sleep thansingle moms, despite having a partner with whom they can share the work, new research has found.
“The idea that a mother does more housework when she has a partner or spouse may sound counter-intuitive, but it’s the reality in most American households,” said Linda Jacobsen, a demographer and the vice president of U.S. Programs atPopulation Reference Bureau.
The researchers hypothesized that this difference between married mothers and single or divorced mothers may be due to societal expectations for married women.
“Married women may feel that to be a good wife, they mustprioritize housework and childcareahead of their own leisure and sleep,” said Joanna Pepin, one of the coauthors of the study, according to PRB. “These expectations likely stem from society’s collective assumptions of what it means to be a wife and mother.”
Mom doing laundry.Getty
Thestudy found thatmarried mothers who bring in the sole income of the home do about an hour of housework a day, while sole-income fathers only spend about 10 minutes on housework.
“When the at-home parent is the mother, there’s a clear expectation that she’ll be in charge of the family’s domestic life,” study coauthor Noelle Chesley told PRB. “That’s not necessarily the case when theat-home parent is the father.”
Mom prepping food.Getty
RELATED VIDEO: New Survey Finds That Nearly Half of Men Believe the Gender Pay Gap Is “Made Up”
When taken together, both studies show that married moms take on the majority of household tasks like cooking and cleaning.
“These studies make it clear that moms living with men do more daily household chores than single moms,” said Jacobsen. “Evenif married moms are thesole breadwinners, when they come home they still do a significant share of the housework on top of their paid jobs.”
source: people.com
