- On average, women spend approximately 17 minutes per day doing laundry chores.
- On average, men spend approximately 4 minutes per day doing laundry chores.
- Laundry is the third most time-consuming activity for women, behind interior cleaning and cooking.
- Laundry-related chores are ranked eighth in terms of daily time spent by men, behind cooking and lawn or garden activities.
- Women typically spend three times as much time doing laundry than men.
Commissioned by ARM & HAMMER Clean & Simple and conducted by OnePoll, the survey also looked at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected habits and household dynamics when it comes to cleaning and housework.
In good news, respondents aren’t missing out on as much quality time in recent months, as their family is now more likely to be helping out when completing housework.
In fact, results revealed 39 percent of parents surveyed said their children have been more involved with doing the laundry since the start of the pandemic.
In that same timeframe, 59 percent said laundry has been split more evenly between them and their partner — but 46 percent are still spending more time on laundry now than before the start of the pandemic.
In the last decade, household dynamics seem to be changing, 80 percent of respondents believe housework is being split more evenly between different partners— with millennials most likely to think so.
Some respondents were so keen on having help with the housework that they’d even forgo a date night with their partner — results found 22 percent would choose to have help with laundry over being taken out on a date.
While more and more parents are tackling housework together, a quarter of participants (25 percent) did admit to doing a poor job at some point on purpose — in hopes of getting out of doing the task again.
A third (34 percent) of respondents said their partner has pulled that trick, while 14 percent said they both have. And men were almost twice as likely as women to have tried this (32 percent vs. 18 percent).
The majority (78 percent) have taught their partner how to properly do a chore, with vacuuming (32 percent), laundry (30 percent) and making the beds (30 percent) revealed to be the top three chores people needed a lesson in.
There’s power in teamwork, 85 percent percent of respondents agree: Doing the cleaning and housework with a partner allows them to do it better.
Furthermore, results found 84 percent of respondents agree using a detergent that is good for you and your family, but just as effective, makes the laundry process less stressful.
