I don’t have time or drive to look up all the statistics right now, but I know that in general when men and women both work full time, women typically still bear more than half the housework and childrearing duties.
Anecdotally, part of this is just that women have a lower filth tolerance than men, and also feel a stronger sense of shame when people come over and the home isn’t spotless. As a child I would laugh as my mother would throw piles of unsorted mail and unread newspapers into various bedrooms in anticipation of company. Now when my girlfriend freaks out that the floors aren’t freshly swept when one of her best friends comes over, it sort of concerns me, especially when things get lost in panicked cleaning. Obviously there shouldn’t be 3-day old coffee cups sitting on the end table and slightly moldy bread crusts on old plates, but does anyone really judge you for having two days of unsorted mail and a book or two on the coffee table?
Women also have a better sense of smell than men. My girlfriend routinely will complain “it smells in here” about the kitchen. I’ll take a good, long whiff… and smell nothing. If it’s the garbage disposal or trash I often have to stick my nose deep inside to get the same experience she gets from the front door.
Of course, I’ve learned to focus my chores on things that *do* matter to me so that she can do the more nitpicky stuff. She probably still does more than I do, but we’re pretty close to equality.
