Women do $6.4K more of unpaid housework than men per year: study
Women are rich … in labor.
After a long workday, it’s hard to find the motivation to clean, run errands and do all the little tasks at home — and a new analysis showed that there’s a big difference between the time women spend on housework versus men.
Home cleaning service Homeaglow analyzed the Bureau of Labor Statistics Time Use Survey and Hourly Wage data to examine how much time adults spend on housekeeping — and how much that time would be worth based on the average hourly wage.
On average, the typical American adult — men and women combined — in 2022 did 34 minutes per day of housework, which is the equivalent of $19.69 per day. That comes out to a total of 208 hours (8.7 days) and $7,188 per year. However, when analyzed by gender, results showed that the typical woman completes $6,431 more of unpaid labor than men annually.
Men do an average of 19 hours per day, or $3,909 worth of household chores every year, while women do an average of 49 minutes per day, or $10,341 worth per year.
In fact, men have increased their housework load by 34.78% since 2003, which still doesn’t hold a candle to the near hour women do daily.
Homeaglow created a calculator to determine how much unpaid housework you’re doing. Just enter your minutes spent doing housework per day, as well as your hourly wage, and it will do the math for you.
While an average of 8.7 days of household chores per year might initially seem like a lot, the state-by-state analysis shows that that number is relatively low.
According to the data, Alaskans spend the most time doing housework of any state, with an average of 50 minutes per day, the equivalent of 303 hours or 12.6 days per year. Alaska residents spend $28.68 worth of time daily doing housework, which is $10,466 annually.
Alaska is also the state that has the greatest difference between men and women doing housework, making it the “most unequal.”
Washington, DC, residents spend the least amount of time on housework, with just an average of 23 minutes per day, or 142.4 hours or 5.9 days per year. DC residents spend $13.47 per day and just $4,918 per year. Meanwhile, New Mexico is shown to be the closest state to having “housework equality” between men and women.
However, there are effective ways to cut down on cleaning time and reduce your amount of unpaid labor. Homeaglow’s resident cleaning expert Aaron Christensen shared some tips to help make cleaning more time efficient.
Collect the clutter
Christensen suggests assigning storage boxes or hampers to every person in the house so that everyone’s clutter is left in one single place rather than spread throughout the home. He added that a rule should be enforced that once the box is full, the person it belongs to needs to clean and organize its contents by keeping, donating or tossing.
Quick daily pickups
Spend just a few minutes picking up loose clutter at the end of the day — or whenever you seem to notice it. If you’re also implementing the clutter collector suggestion, Christensen advises putting people’s clutter in their respective boxes during your pickup.
Multitask chores
Do some chores simultaneously, Christensen suggests, such as cleaning kitchen countertops while your pans soak in the sink.
Have cleaning supplies ready
Having your cleaning supplies ready and organized will save you time from searching for the product you need and can help you focus on what exactly you intend to clean in that specific moment.
Focus on foot traffic
The areas that have the most foot traffic are usually the ones that need to be cleaned the most. Clean these areas daily or weekly and save the lesser used rooms for a monthly clean.
Have a cleaning routine
Creating a system when it comes to cleaning each room can help focus your mind and avoid distractions, allowing you to shave time off your daily practices. Christensen said that it’s common to use a system in which you “start each room to the left of the doorway, at the top, before moving clockwise and down.”
Extension cords
Utilize extension cords to clean more than one room at once and reduce the time used on plugging in and unplugging the vacuum.
Get professional help
If you really want to save time and have the means to do so, getting a cleaning expert to clean your home while you do your other daily tasks will free up even more time for you.
