Swedish men clean more

Swedish women spend less time doing housework and more at their job, while men do just the opposite - they work less and clean more. Well, almost.  

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  Though Swedish men and women are more equal today than a decade ago when it comes to household chores, ironing remains a typical female activity.

• Commissioned by the government, SCB (Statistiska centralbyrån or Statistics Sweden) has done an equality study in how Swedish families spend their time.

• 3,294 people, chosen at random, were asked to keep an daily diary. According to SCB, there are signs that show the gap between men and women is narrowing.

• Women still do more household chores, but the average Swedish woman spends four hours a day doing housework, and men three hours and 15 minutes. Compare that to a study from 2000, when women did an additional 14 minutes of household chores and men 11 minutes less.

• There still are, however, differences in how the work at home is divided. Says Mikael Molén at SCB: “Women spend 50 percent of the time on traditional chores such as cleaning, cooking and laundry. Men spend 50 percent of the time on mowing the lawn, walking the dog and painting.” And the most unequal household chore? Ironing. Women spend 14 minutes a day on ironing, while men spend only four minutes. Women also spend 43 minutes on cooking, compared to men's 26. Add to this the fact that compared to a decade ago, women spend 21 more minutes at work and men have decreased their workload by 14 minutes.