Press Statement

Preasráiteas

16 July 2021

Go to release: Pulse Survey - Life at Home 2021: Couples

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (16 July 2021) published Pulse Survey-Life at Home 2021: Couples.

Commenting on the report, Statistician, Brian Cahill, said: “The distribution of power and decision-making between partners in a couple has an influence on the ability of individuals in a couple to access opportunities outside the home. This is why the CSO has produced ‘Life at Home 2021: Couples’, which is the third publication to be produced from the first online CSO Pulse Survey as part of the CSO ‘Take Part’ campaign.

Survey respondents were asked a series of questions as to who in their partnership is mostly responsible for organising and taking care of a range of household related tasks and chores. Response options to these questions were ‘Mostly me’, ’Balanced’ and ‘Mostly my spouse/partner’. For respondents living with a partner of the opposite-sex, one could expect that the percentage of male respondents who said they are mostly responsible for a particular household chore should be equal to the percentage of female respondents who said their partner is mostly responsible (and vice versa). The results show that respondents perceive themselves to have more responsibility than their partners see them having. For example, almost two in three (65%) female respondents living with an opposite-sex partner said they are mostly responsible for household chores whereas 38% of male respondents said their partner is mostly responsible.

This report shows that female respondents in opposite-sex couples were more likely to say they are mostly responsible for organising and taking care of household chores, grocery shopping and meal preparation, taking care of household health related issues and organising social activities, while men were more likely to report being mostly responsible for household financial decisions on saving, investment and borrowings, home and garden maintenance and setting-up or renewing household utilities.”

Highlights:

• Almost two in three (65%) female respondents said they are mostly responsible for household chores, compared with 9% of men, and 64% said they are mostly responsible for grocery shopping and meal preparation compared with 23% of men.
• Men were more likely to say they mostly take care of home and garden maintenance (65% compared with 15% of women).
• Women were more likely to report taking the lead in organising social activities with 42% reporting they are mostly responsible for this compared with 8% of men.
• Almost five in ten (47%) men in an opposite-sex relationship reported a High satisfaction level with how household tasks are divided compared with three in ten (31%) women who live with a male partner.

Of those respondents who live with a partner of the opposite-sex with at least one person in the partnership working, Brian Cahill commented further: “In couples where both partners are employed full-time, women were more likely than men to report being mostly responsible for taking care of household chores (42% compared with 6% of men) and for grocery shopping, meal planning and preparation (43% compared with 20% of men). Of respondent males in a couple where both are working full-time, 63% said they are mostly responsible for home and garden maintenance compared with 15% of women. More than eight in ten (82%) women who are not employed and whose partner is employed reported that they are mostly responsible for organising and taking care of household chores, compared with 27% of men who are not employed and whose partner is employed.” See Chapter 3.

Other highlights where at least one person in the couple is in employment

• Of respondents in a full-time working couple who have a child 18 years or younger in the home, 41% of women reported being mostly responsible for providing educational support to their children (e.g. helping with homework, early educational development), compared with 10% of men, and one in four (25%) said they are mostly responsible for providing structure and discipline to the children compared with one in twenty (5%) men.
• Almost half (48%) of men in couples where both partners are employed full-time reported a High satisfaction level with how household tasks are divided compared with 29% of women.
• Almost half (49%) of women in a couple where the female is employed (full-time or part-time), and the male is not working reported being mostly responsible for household chores. This compares to 7% of male respondents in a couple where only the male is employed.
• Of male respondents who are not employed and live with a female partner in employment, 45% said they are mostly responsible for grocery shopping and meal preparation. This compares to 78% of women who are not employed and live with a male partner in employment.

Brian Cahill made further observations about respondents who are retired and whose partner is also retired: “Almost two in three (65%) female respondents who are retired and live with a retired partner said they are mostly responsible for organising and taking care of household chores. The comparable rate for male retirees who live with a female partner who is retired is 5%. Just under half (46%) of female retirees said they are mostly responsible for organising their social interactions e.g. meeting up with extended family and friends compared with one in twenty (5%) male retirees living with a partner who is also retired. Two-thirds (64%) of men who are retired and live with a retired partner reported a High level of satisfaction with how household tasks are divided, compared with 28% of retired women living with their retired male partner.”

Other highlights:

• Both male and female respondents who do not have a child 18 years or younger living with them were more likely to report a High satisfaction level with how household tasks are divided (55% of men and 37% of women) when compared with respondents who have children (37% men and 24% women).
• Six in ten male respondents who don’t have a child living with them said they are mostly responsible for organising and taking care of home and garden maintenance. This increases to 71% of male respondents with a child in the home.
• Two in five (41%) respondents living with a partner of the same-sex said the responsibility for groceries and meal planning and preparation is Balanced, compared with 35% for people in opposite-sex relationships. Just over half (51%) of people in same-sex relationships and 42% of those in opposite-sex relationships said responsibility for household chores is Balanced.
• In opposite-sex partnerships, more than nine in ten (93%) women say they feel free to spend money on themselves without asking permission from their partner, compared with 83% of male respondents.
• In same-sex partnerships, 97% of women and 91% of men said they feel free to spend money on themselves without asking permission from their partner.
• Almost one in four (23%) female respondents and 7% of male respondents said, ‘Mostly mine’ when asked whose opinion usually prevails when there is a disagreement between partners in an opposite-sex couple.

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