The ‘Second Shift’ Prevails: Breadwinning Mommies Are Still Stuck With Domestic Chores

Anne-Marie Slaughter‘s piece in The Atlantic may have pointed out the severely archaic components of our professional nine to five model. But some numbers out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirm that workplaces aren’t the only spots where we’ve outgrown the Mad Men-esque way of running things. Our home dynamic could stand to be overhauled too considering that most women are still doing most of the day-to-day household work.

Male partners may be stepping it up in the home, but clearly they have a couple of more steps to climb. The Bureau reports that of their 2011 data, 83% of ladies spent time on household work like cooking, house cleaning, lawn care, or other facets of household management. By contrast, 65% of men performed the same tasks. On another average day, 48% of women performed housework (like laundry and cleaning) versus 19% of men. When it came to the kitchen, 40% of men were both preparing food and cleaning up after those dirty dishes, contrasted with 66% of women.

These numbers take on a different context altogether when you consider that the majority of women are breadwinners or co-breadwinners for their households. The takeaway perhaps being that even if you’re bringing home the bacon — chances are you’re still the one frying it up and cleaning the kitchen afterwards.

(photo: mykeyruna/ Shutterstock)