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:
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
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:
The ‘Life at Home’ survey is the first CSO Pulse Survey and was conducted as part of the CSO ‘Take Part’ campaign. The survey was carried out online between Monday 24 May and Monday 07 June 2021 and was open to anyone aged 18 and over living in private accommodation in the Republic of Ireland. The online electronic questionnaire was available on the CSO.ie website and on all CSO social media platforms. There were 10,454 responses to the survey.
As the people who answered this survey were not chosen at random from the population the findings of this report cannot be generalised to the entire Irish population. Further details on the methodology can be found in the Background Notes.
Previous results from the Pulse Survey include:
Pulse Survey-Life at Home 2021: Snapshot of Results
Pulse Survey-Life at Home 2021: Renters, Lone Parents and Adults Living Alone or with a Parent.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in the Pulse Survey. More information on CSO Pulse Surveys can be found here.
Brian Cahill (087) 6280807 (+353) 21 453 5173 or Gerry Reilly (087) 2505165 (+353) 21 453 5700
or email brian.cahill@cso.ie
or email icw@cso.ie
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