Exactly how much housework does a husband create?

[Sister Fracas 5]

Still trying to reconcile the statements that husbands create 7 additional hours of work for the wife, yet those same husbands are only realizing a one hour savings?

Well I'm thinking it's because they only did about 1 hour a week before getting married, when probably a few more...at least, were needed.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

For men, the picture is very different: A wife saves men from about an hour of housework a week.

Not much. Considering the expenses, it's more cost-effective to hire a cleaning lady.

depends on the wife. I bring home money and I'm not into shopping, jewelery, eating out, partying, etc. So it's cheaper to have me than a a cleaning lady. Unless it's an illegal cleaning lady,then who knows..

Charles is a lucky man.

You get two people together who have no interest in doing anything, and you're bound to save money. Around here, I can't believe how dirty it gets sometimes in four days. I have trouble keeping up with my own stuff, like putting my laundry away and organizing my files/not leaving paper everywhere. Hiring a cleaning lady might not save us money but it would save us peace of mind. I've got so many better things to do than maintain a spotless house.

yard work has to count, right?

[Jenn! 918]

For us I think it's mostly about tolerance level. Neither of us are neat-freaks by any stretch of the imagination. But my threshold is significantly lower than his, which means that I end up doing most of the housework. If I didn't do it, eventually he would, but I'm not going to let that happen unless I'm really pissed and trying to make a point...

[DeadPoolX 9]

I don't mind helping with housework; how is it even the total responsiblity of the wife, anyway? If both are working, then they need to both contribute to the housework chores. It was different back when the norm was for the husband to work while the wife stayed home. Her job, essentially, was then keep the house in order and take care of the children while he brought in money (if they have kids).

Besides... as I see it, if we both do housework, my wife won't be too tired for sex later.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Still trying to reconcile the statements that husbands create 7 additional hours of work for the wife, yet those same husbands are only realizing a one hour savings?

Well I'm thinking it's because they only did about 1 hour a week before getting married, when probably a few more...at least, were needed.

I eventually found out that my level of cleanliness doesn't quite meet her standards. Bachelorhood had taught me that an undisturbed area is a clean area. Boy was I wrong.

[Sister Fracas 5]

Still trying to reconcile the statements that husbands create 7 additional hours of work for the wife, yet those same husbands are only realizing a one hour savings?

Well I'm thinking it's because they only did about 1 hour a week before getting married, when probably a few more...at least, were needed.

I eventually found out that my level of cleanliness doesn't quite meet her standards. Bachelorhood had taught me that an undisturbed area is a clean area. Boy was I wrong.

yup! Hubster's lame excuse it that he doesn't see the mess, he only recognizes the function of a room. For example, he only sees that the kitchen is the source of food and beer, but somehow he doesn't see the sink full of dishes. It's a load of hoo-ha if you ask me....

[mawilson 2,133]

Still trying to reconcile the statements that husbands create 7 additional hours of work for the wife, yet those same husbands are only realizing a one hour savings?

Well I'm thinking it's because they only did about 1 hour a week before getting married, when probably a few more...at least, were needed.

I eventually found out that my level of cleanliness doesn't quite meet her standards. Bachelorhood had taught me that an undisturbed area is a clean area. Boy was I wrong.

Did you at least explain to Jinky that there are no "dirty clothes" or "clean clothes" - there are many different gradations in between?

Edited April 7, 2008 by mawilson

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Agreeing with the above! I'm a neat-freak; Alex on the other hand would be happy living in a sty. I doubt he does even one hour's work a week so I can see how I would save him that hour but how he'd also create a lot more work for me.

I'm a bit reluctant to let him clean because he doesn't quite have the eye for dirt that I do. And he sees nothing wrong with a thick layer of dust, ew!

My parents' situation is a little different. My mother does do all of the cleaning but to be honest she's probably mostly cleaning up after herself. My dad's pretty neat and keeps his own little corner very tidy. I'm sure he'd have no problems doing the housework if he lived on his own. He wouldn't rinse properly, though. I've never met a man who rinses properly.

[Jenn! 918]

He wouldn't rinse properly, though. I've never met a man who rinses properly.

Rinse what? Pretty sure I'm not doing it properly either then.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Having a husband creates an extra seven hours a week of housework for women, according to a University of Michigan study of a nationally representative sample of U.S. families.

For men, the picture is very different: A wife saves men from about an hour of housework a week.

In my household, my husband does no housework. Nada. Zip. Zero. None. For me..... that man definitely creates more than an extra seven hours per week.

Here too - my husband does no housework but he sure creates a lot of it! I didn't realize living with a man would be so messy and I am not a neat freak - just 'neater' in my day to day habits:-). Joe does cook, but for every hour he cooks I get an extra 2 hours of clean up afterwords. For every hour I cook, I get 15 minutes of clean-up:-). Joe mows the lawn and does the major heavy landscaping work (ie. building retaining walls, etc.) but I do all of the gardening, weeding, pruning, etc. He does occasionally harvest some of the tomatoes when they are ripe and he will do the pressure canning of them which is pretty cool. He does work hard outside of the house, though, so I have no problems viewing the housework as my domain - I just don't quite understand how he can make so much mess in such a short time without even trying VBG.

[Krikit 1,164]

Here too - my husband does no housework but he sure creates a lot of it! I didn't realize living with a man would be so messy and I am not a neat freak - just 'neater' in my day to day habits:-). Joe does cook, but for every hour he cooks I get an extra 2 hours of clean up afterwords. For every hour I cook, I get 15 minutes of clean-up:-). Joe mows the lawn and does the major heavy landscaping work (ie. building retaining walls, etc.) but I do all of the gardening, weeding, pruning, etc. He does occasionally harvest some of the tomatoes when they are ripe and he will do the pressure canning of them which is pretty cool. He does work hard outside of the house, though, so I have no problems viewing the housework as my domain - I just don't quite understand how he can make so much mess in such a short time without even trying VBG.

My husband doesn't cook (I wish) but he does bbq every once in a while. And we have full service groundskeeping so there's no outdoor work for him. (Though he has managed to kill all my outdoor potted plants while I'm away.) But I'm with you..... my husband works outside the home so I see the work inside the home as mine.

[Nessa 23]

You get two people together who have no interest in doing anything, and you're bound to save money.

yard work has to count, right?

she was trying to give us a hard time because we're home people. The important thing is that we have the same interest in things we do.

We don't see a reason to eat out every week if I can cook meals that we both believe are worth more money than many meals we buy in restaurants.

We prefer to have hundreds of dvd we can watch again than paying to go to a movie theater.

We can do things together at home that doesn't require money and be happy with that.

Edited April 7, 2008 by Nessa

[Yoink 7]

in our apartment we have it down to a science... I do about 30 minutes of housework a day... taking out trash and washing dishes and doing little things and she does 1 hour twice a week of major things... mop the bathroom and a good counter scrubbing. Mindful it is a small place but we pretty much do equal amounts of housework.

She does the cooking but I clean up. I even make the bed most days cause she leaves for work early.

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

If your wife is a stay at home mom then shouldn't she be the one cleaning? I try to help my wife but she always says that I worked hard all day and it is her job to keep the house clean.

[sj5 4]

my husband work 10/5 and 7hours every saturday... i can only do billing, fax and filing. and i do cleaning up with his help. he loves restaurants..so i better like it too otherwise someone will like to go with him..