Men do significantly less housework than women and appear healthier

Equal distribution would be fair: how housework affects health

The proportion of working women has increased significantly in recent decades. Nevertheless, the topic of "housework" still seems to affect women more. Even at a higher age, senior women spend significantly more time organizing their household than seniors. This obviously does not remain without consequences for the health.

Unfair division of housework

Carrying garbage, washing dishes, washing clothes: women still work considerably more in households than men. This mismatch is not only unfair and contradicts the ideal of equality, but also brings health disadvantages to women, at least for the older ones. Because according to a new study, seniors who do less housework feel much healthier than older women who do more in the household.

Women spend significantly more time doing housework than men -
even the older ones among them. This does not seem to be without consequences for the health: the seniors feel much healthier than the elderly. (Picture: Picture-Factory / fotolia.com)

Consequences for the health

Last year, when a study was published by the University of Brussels that concluded that cleaning could pose a health hazard to men, many a man felt restrained in his domestic work.

However, the scientists from Belgium at that time pointed out that the greater risk of illness arose, for example, because men wear less breathing masks and protective gloves, often use cleaning agents incorrectly and misjudge the mixture of chemicals.

In general, not only do women do a lot more work in the home, they also appear to be unhealthier than men.

This has been shown in a recent study by a research group of the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS in Bremen.

The researchers examined the relationship between housework, sleep duration and health in the elderly in Europe and the US.

They found that older women spend almost five hours a day doing housework on average, while older men are more restrained in just three hours. This does not seem to be without consequences for the health: the seniors feel much healthier than the elderly.

The results of the study were recently published in the journal "BMC Public Health".

On average, women spend five hours a day doing housework

Almost 21,000 women and more than 15,000 men over the age of 65 provided information about their daily activities in international time use studies.

The study participants from Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and the USA should estimate how much time they spend during the day with a variety of activities - including housework such as cleaning, cooking, gardening and craft activities.

"The evaluation showed a clear picture. While the women spent about five hours doing housework on average, the men held back. On average, they only worked three hours in the household, "said Nicholas Adjei, Ph.D. student in the Prevention and Evaluation Unit at BIPS and first author of the study, in a statement.

"There are clear differences in the type of housework. On average, women spend almost 220 minutes a day cooking, shopping and cleaning - men only just under 90 minutes. In gardening and craft activities shows a reverse image. Here, men are active almost 70 minutes every day, while women only barely 40 minutes. "

In addition, there are clear country differences - especially among the older men. While seniors in Italy only do housework for 2.7 hours a day, 4.2 hours are for German men.

Even distribution of all household chores would be fair

But how does housework affect your health? "Here was an interesting picture. Overall, housework appears to be associated with better subjective health in both men and women, "said Adjei.

"However, if we consider this in combination with the duration of sleep, then for women there is an optimum of one to three hours of housework with seven to eight hours of sleep. For the men, those who were most active in the household at six or more hours reported the best health, regardless of sleep duration. "

Reasons for the different effects can not be derived with certainty from the study.

"Perhaps the nature of the activities plays a big role. Men work a lot in the garden, are physically very active and in the open air. Women, on the other hand, are sometimes engaged in very repetitive household activities, "Adjei explained.

"A more even distribution of all household chores to women and men could therefore be quite reasonable and fair." (Ad)