British men are pulling their weight more with the housework – but are still lagging way behind women, a study shows.
Ten years ago, men in the UK did an average of 66 minutes of housework a day – they now do 75.
Over the same period, the number of minutes women spend on housework each day went down slightly from 133 to 132.
It still means, however, that women spend more than an hour more every day on chores such as cooking, vacuuming and washing up than men.
The figures, compiled by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to mark International Women’s Day, also show that Britons do far less around the house than people in other countries.
Ten years ago, men in the UK did an average of 66 minutes of housework a day – they now do 75 (stock image)
Among both men and women, the average is 104 minutes – much less than 129 minutes that French people spend on housework.
Across the rich countries represented by the OECD, the average amount of time spent on housework is exactly two hours.
The organisation also found there was a continuing gender gap when it comes to childcare and shopping.
In the UK, British women spend 37 minutes a day on childcare, compared to men who spend just 15 minutes on it.
And while women spend 36 minutes shopping, the figure for men is just 23 minutes.
OECD statistics expert Carlotta Balestra said: ‘Achieving equality for men and women in the world of work relies on achieving more equality in the home.
‘Unless men take their fair share of unpaid care and domestic work, women won’t be able to take their fair share of opportunities in paid employment.’
The OECD figures display huge variations in the amount of time different countries spend on chores. The most house-proud nation is Mexico, where people spend more than three hours a day – 189 minutes – on routine housework.
Slovenia is Europe’s most house-proud nation, spending 166 minutes on housework. It is followed by Portugal, Poland and Italy, where people spend 135 minutes on housework.
The UK sits 21st on the list of 28 countries. Its tally of 104 minutes is just behind Germany on 109 minutes and ahead of the US on 102 minutes.
Norwegians spend the least amount of time on housework in Europe – 83 minutes. The countries with the lowest figures in the world are South Korea on 79 minutes and Japan on 80 minutes.
Broken down by sex, the OECD average for women was 163 minutes, half an hour more than British women. For men the average was 73 minutes, just slightly lower than the UK figure.
The tidiest women in the world live in Mexico. They spend 273 minutes a day on housework, compared to the lowest, 114 minutes, in Norway.
By contrast, Japanese men do just 14 minutes a day of housework on average – the lowest in the world.
The figures are averaged out over the week, including weekdays and weekends, although, not surprisingly, most housework is done on Saturdays and Sundays.