Who does the housework?

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Pippa. When it comes to household chores, jobs like cleaning, washing clothes or looking after the kids, it's often women who do most of the work. Here, two female listeners of BBC World Service programme People Fixing the World share their experiences. Do they sound familiar to you? Listener 1 I do everything. I do all the house chores, I do the food shopping, I do all the cooking, I clean the bathroom. Listener 2 Are the chores done equally between me and my husband? No, they're not done equally. I do most of the chores.

So, you're a family man, Neil. Do you do your fair share of household chores?

I think so. My wife works part time and I work full time, so when I'm not working, I do things, and when she's not working, she does things.

Yeah, it's similar in my house, so me and my husband try to split things, but it's difficult, isn't it?

It is.

Of course, no one enjoys cleaning the toilet or taking out the bins, but there is a serious side to the issue. Figures from UN Women, an organisation promoting gender equality, suggest that every day women around the world spend three hours more than men on unpaid care and domestic work. So, in this episode, we'll be hearing about two projects helping husbands and wives share the housework more fairly.

And as usual, you'll find a quiz and a worksheet to go with this episode on our According to a survey conducted by Good Housekeeping magazine earlier this year, what is the most hated household chore in Britain? Is it: a) deep cleaning the oven, b) scrubbing the toilet, or c) cleaning the windows?

Hmm. I'm going to say deep cleaning the oven because I really hate that job. I hardly ever do it.

I don't like any of those, but we'll find out the answer at the end of the programme. Now, the first project we're going to look at is on the remote Indonesian island of Rote. Here, men traditionally work as rice farmers or fishermen, while women look after the home, the children and older people. But with few washing machines and no running water, these domestic chores take a long time.

The NGO ARUNGI runs a project trying to change attitudes about the role of the island's women. They work alongside community leaders like Mama Shilpa, who spoke with BBC World Service reporter Ade Mardiyati.

It is expected that the tasks done in the house, like holding the child, feeding the child, washing dishes, cooking, will all be done by the mother.

Shilpa tells me these are all considered women's work. And you might be thinking, "Well, the man is busy in the fields, so it's just a fair division of labour." But Shilpa tells me women also help out in the fields.

On Rote, cleaning, cooking and sweeping are considered women's work – a negative term for boring and repetitive tasks which are traditionally done by women.

Many cultures have a division of labour – a way of organising work where different tasks are done by different groups of people. But on Rote this means women work even harder, helping out with the farming and fishing too.

You might think this only happens in traditional societies, but research suggests that women in wealthy countries also spend much more time on unpaid care work than men. One such country is Croatia, where the NGO Status M run their Superdads project. Project worker Anamarija Sočo leads workshops encouraging dads and sons to take some of the pressure off mums. Here, she explains the benefits of this to the BBC World Service. Anamarija Sočo Mothers have, you know, of course, more space for their careers, or hobbies, or just simply to rest – I mean, just to take a breather. Women tend to especially appreciate men who do these kinds of chores. And when they start pulling their weight, then they jokingly say that, "Uh yeah, women tend to nag less."

Sometimes mums need to take a breather – an informal way of saying stop and rest a while.

Anamarija also thinks women appreciate it when their husbands pull their weight. If you pull your weight, you work as hard as everyone else.

Both these NGO projects agree about one thing – men doing more to help around the house results in happier homes, even if that means cleaning the toilet now and then. And speaking of cleaning the toilet, what was the answer to your quiz question, Neil?

I asked you what chore is the most hated in Britain.

I thought it was cleaning the oven.

Well, I'm afraid that's not the right answer. People hate cleaning the windows even more than scrubbing the oven. Apparently, 23% of the people who did the survey said cleaning the windows. OK. Let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with chores – household tasks like cleaning, washing and ironing that have to be done regularly.

If you do your fair share of work, you do a reasonable amount.

Women's work is a negative term for the boring and repetitive tasks which are stereotypically done by women.

The division of labour is a way of organising work where different tasks are done by different groups of people.

The idiom take a breather means to stop what you're doing for a short time and rest.

And finally, if you pull your weight, you work as hard as everyone else doing the same job. Once again, our six minutes are up, but remember, you can find a free Goodbye for now.

Goodbye!