From my child until now the tasks in my family have changed dramatically. I was raised with my mom and dad with no siblings. When I was a child and too young to do any chores my dad was the breadwinner in the family (he worked in the Air Force) and my mom worked part-time and cared for the home and cooked and cleaned. My father's responsibility on the weekends were to maintain the house and yard. Then and up until this day my father has been responsible for paying bills and managing the finances. Once I grew older both my mother and father worked full-time. I helped by keeping the house clean after school and cooking some of the family dinners, alleviating some of the work of my mother's "second shift." At this point in time my father works full-time and my mother cares for the house. She does most of the yardwork and some of the household repairs since she no longer cares for any children or pets and is able to dedicate a good portion of her time to her religion.
I firmly believe in the division of domestic labor that work should be divided evenly between the husband and the wife. Personally I love to cook but hate to clean. I love to fix things around the house and care for the yard. Since my partner doesn't mind cleaning, I do my best to make things easier for her (ie. rinse of dishes, put things away, etc.) If my partner does not work or works part-time I would consider it lazy not to help around the house. Essentially, work hours and domestic hours should be equal between partners.
Mike: It's interesting to see how the chores were taken care of in your family. Years ago, there was a controversy about whether men were doing their fair share, considering that so many women had jobs outside the home. That controversy has faded somewhat, but discussions of women having "the second shift" come up from time to time. You've provided some important points. Richard Bobys
ReplyDelete