Multitasking: How men and women differ

Image courtesy of Flickr user spike55151

The number of hours American men and women spend on housework has been moving toward parity for some time, with men -- at least those without kids -- spending about 80 percent as much time on chores as women do.

But new research suggests that measuring the raw hours each partner spends keeping the household running dramatically understates womens' contributions.

Why? Because women spend a lot more time multitasking then men do.

It seems that even though the sexes would appear to splitting the drudgery nearly evenly, women still have many more responsibilities. That's not showing up in the hours they work, though, because they're so likely to be doing two things at once. Or more.

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"When you look at men and women in similar kinds of work situations, they look very similar," says Barbara Schneider, a professor of sociology at Michigan State University and a co-author of the study. "But when they come home, it is very clear that women are shouldering much more of the responsibilities of housework and childcare."

Schneider's research, in collaboration with a team from Israel's Bar-Ilan University, found that women spend about 48.3 hours in the home multitasking per week. That's quite a bit more than men, who average about 38.9 hours multitasking. The researchers studied 368 moms and 241 dads. While many parents refer to the hours from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. as the "witching hour," some of these women went so far as to call that time "the arsenic hours."

Says Schneider: "Working mothers are doing two activities at once more than two-fifths of the time they are awake, while working fathers are multitasking more than a third of their waking hours."

Meanwhile, women were taking on tasks that were a lot more labor-intensive than what the men were doing, such as:

-- Housework: About 52.7 percent of all multitasking for working mothers involved housework, compared to 42.2 percent for dads

-- Childcare: About 35.5 percent of multitasking for working mothers included childcare, compared to about 27.9 percent for men.

When the dads multitasked, it was more likely to mean they were attending to work while simultaneously doing housework. Moms tended to be doing two forms of home- or kid-related juggling. And while the dads felt pleased with their multitasking, the women were more likely to be stressed out by it.

According to the National Science Foundation, women spend an average of 10 hours a week on household chores while men do eight. The situation is much more lopsided for married couples with kids, such as the ones Schneider studies. In families with three or more kids, women spend an average of 17 hours a week on chores, while men spend about 10 hours a week on these same tasks.

Jobs that traditionally fall to men, such as home repairs and mowing the lawn, were not included in the survey. The researchers say that's because these jobs are usually considered more enjoyable than "core chores" such as cleaning the kitchen or doing laundry.

The study was published in the December issue of the American Sociological Review.

[b_wtaylor]

Not to sound sexist, because I really do love and respect you guys, but I'd like to know where the men surveyed were, because I don't believe for one minute that American men spend 39 hours a week multi-tasking at any kind of work related to the home or do 42% of housework and 28% of childcare and work 80% as much as women on home chores - especially when traditional male tasks like yard and automotive work are excluded, as it says they are.

I've known a lot of husbands in every class and type of job, and I've never seen a married man approach these figures, except when the wife was disabled. I've seen a couple of wonderful men pitch in there like saints.

Wherever this mystical place with men who work around the house and with kids more than 5 hours a day, I, being of the female persuasion, want to go there and help one of them see how we could both work a lot less and have loads of time for fun.

[HolyCackle]

To the bitter, insecure men who seem to be offended by this study (which was an independent study--this author is simply reporting on it), a study that says that women IN GENERAL work harder and longer than men do at household chores does not diminish the magnificent contributions you are obviously making to your your own households and to society at large (i.e., the waking up before everyone, shoveling snow, etc.). I for one can tell you that this study describes what is happening in my own household--part of the problem being that my husband gets completely stressed out by having to focus on more than one thing at a time. He's either watching the kids, or I'm watching the kids while he does whatever chore. On the other hand, since he leaves at 5am and I have to get myself and the two children out the door every morning, I'm somehow able to multi-task 5 days a week to get us out the door.

Rather than bashing men and what they contribute to family life, this study is simply pointing out that a large part of domestic day-to-day chores, for whatever reason, are still falling on women. Maybe it's because we put it on ourselves to do more, maybe it's because society expects it. Who knows that the reason is?

Just because a handful of guys who comment on this article happen to do as much work or more work than their significant others, as many of you are claiming, doesn't mean that you are representative of households everywhere.

So, please, don't be disrespectful of many women who are working very hard by making fun of and disrespecting their contributions. Personally, I work full time, freelance part-time, manage the apartment building we own, volunteer in the community, and still end up at the primary childcare provider and Chief Domestic Officer. I have to pay the bills. I have to stay on top of things. My husband helps--but only if I notice what needs to be done first. I'm the breadwinner, but his job requires a lot of long hours, whereas my job is more flexible. So, I may leave work early to get the kids--but then I'll work till the wee hours of the morning to make up work I missed.

So, again, yay for the people out there working hard and making it work--men and women. Don't be disrespectful of the work others are doing. And be secure enough to recognize that even if you don't feel this article applies to your situation (and I'd love to get your wives' points of view on this), it doesn't diminish the contributions you make as an individual.

[chrisbedford100]

One thing I don't see explained is how "multi-tasking" (read: doing two or more things badly) achieves more housework hours. Dusting and vacuuming at the same time, maybe? Bottle-feeding an infant while packing the dishwasher? Folding laundry and mopping the floor?

Just another example of some stoopid "consultancy" doing a superficial survey with a bunch of yes/no questions and "interpreting" the results to justify their existence.

[dfwenigma]

My grandmother used to say something that sounds sexist at first but really isn't, many know the saying, "a man can work from sun to sun but a women's work is never done." I think this speaks loudly to the amount of multitasking women in society must do in order to have both successful careers and successful families. Surely there are cases where men are more successful than women at multitasking - but not many - we're not biologically set up to multitask. I think that the saying has some merit during the same sun up and sun down period women are often required to be: someone's daughter, sister, child, mother, aunt, cousin, girlfriend, significant other, co-worker - think how long the list gets. Who makes sure all the niceties in life get done - in many cases it is some women. Even if that women isn't you - if you're a women - it's some women. I have a friend and bless her heart - her role as a mommy absolutely exhausts me. I watch her work herself into total exhaustion. I'm proud of her. Now she's going back to working outside the home - I'm worried for her - because there aren't services for all the things she has to do to be a successful manager at home and at work. What kills me too is the number of women too that I've met - they decorate the house, they tile the bathroom, they fix the car, they make the meals, they do all sorts of things - things men traditionally did and things women traditionally did - and new things that have no modern definitions. I think we're going to find higher rates of non-traditional diseases among women in the coming decades because we're working them to death.

[HolyCackle]

Thank you for the nice shout out and recognition of what your friend does. I'm sure she appreciates it. And I'm sure that it's not unusual--it's certainly not unusual at my house. I think that's really what this study is trying to say. Guys need to stop getting so defensive and understand that, for better or worse, this is the reality for so many women.

[differenceworks]

I don't blame the guys for reacting negatively to this. A task that one enjoys doesn't count? SOMETIMES I enjoy dusting! The conclusions about amount of time spent multi-tasking, however, are well founded. Research on brain structure shows distinctions in the "male brain" (which most but not all men have) and the "female brain" (which most but not all women have). The female brain enables "multi-tasking"--which is really just shifting quickly from one thing to another. That doesn't mean men CAN'T. It means it's easier for the AVERAGE woman than the AVERAGE man. This difference also explains some differences in how men and women process, make decisions and talk--again, in general!

[SuperDude2000]

Another thought just occurred to me... If I can fold the laundry in half the time that it takes my wife, does that make my total contribution half of that of my wife? If so, my daughter completely puts us both to shame since it takes her more than two hours to put away her clothes and make her bed. That must be worth more than folding the laundry. Unfortunately I can't count fixing the toilet or putting the winter tires on my wife's car since that's supposed to be enjoyable.

[SuperDude2000]

Hmm, mow the front, side and rear lawns takes me two and a half hours every weeek not including edge trimming. But that doesn't count because it's enjoyable. Shovelling snow from the driveway and walkways probably takes in the vicinity of 30 minutes to an hour depending upon how deep it is and whether the plough blocked the end of the driveway in. That too doesn't count because I should be happy to be outside in the freezing cold. Last week I changed the toilet in the bathroom but that doesn't count either because that is considered enjoyable, too by the author (I wonder when the last time she had to fix anything around the house?). Unfortunately, I didn't spend 15 minutes washing the dishes after I picked up my kid from daycare and cooked dinner (its my job to cook on weekdays since I get home earlier than my wife on weekdays - I probably shouldn't mention that I start work before any one even gets out of bed, however). Seeing that my clothes are included in the laundry, I probably can't count that either. So I guess I just don't do my fair share.

What a load of bull... I wonder if the author was multitasking with her chores when she wrote this? She obviously has an affinity for shovelling s..t.

[mad.casual]

This was an irritating piece of reporting. The last paragraph should've been the first and I would've known to take the whole thing with a shaker full of salt or skip it entirely.

[AlamoBill]

So the chores are filtered to artificially diminish male contributions to satisfy the cultural template of widespread female disadvantage?

Something makes me think that if mowing the lawn were a traditional female task, it would indeed be counted.

No sale!

billb
http://historeo.com

[[e-mail]]

Hmm, lets see, this morning I got up before everyone else, shoveled 6 inches of wet snow off the drive way,(I admit I didn't multi task there, kinda hard when shoveling snow). Came home at lunch grabbed a sandwich, unloaded the dryer and folded the clothes threw a load of clothes in the dryer and one in the washer. Chewed my sandwich while unloading the dishwaher. Replaced a washer in the faucet in the kitchen and went back to work. I then came home at 6PM, did another load of wash, then started working on a faulty windshield washer on the car. When the wife got home I filled her tank with gasoline antifreeze and filled up her window washer. It had snowed again so I shoveled some more and then I hung up three outside wreaths, while she cooked dinner because we alternate every other night and this was her night. Then I helped our kid with some home work but that was after we did the dishes, while the wife was helping my elderly mother with some chores. Then it was over to my mother's house to shovel her drive way while my wife came back and put the kid to bed while no doubt multi taking on something else because according to this survey that's just what women do, but we were not keeping score that night so I am not sure.... yep, sure looks like the guys don't do as much work because I can't count the three times shoveling, fixing the car, or hanging the wreathes, (not sure about the faucet, do I get half a point for that one)? Guess us guys just aren't very useful, ya probably wouldn't miss us if we just packed up and left.

[SuperDude2000]

The author is "the co-founder of One Thing New, the free email newsletter for smart, busy women". Right there is the answer to your question re: the obvious gender-bias in the criteria for what constitutes a chore rather than a hobby.

I'd take hanging out and playing with my kids over mowing the lawn any day. I have itchy eyes for hours afterwards but I shouldn't complain because it's supposed to be fun. After all, looking after the kids is supposed to be a chore (should we tell the kids that mommy thinks so?).