Last week I told about how I came up with the idea to write a series on the changing roles of women in the home and about my surveying 100 women of different races, from different walks of life and locations, in order to obtain much of the information I needed.

This week, we will talk about the cooking and housework aspects of “women’s roles” in the home and how they have changed, if any, along with the growing number of women working outside the home.

An article obtained from an Internet website called “Faqs.org” states that even though, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, white men (who once dominated the workplace) now account for about 45 percent of all workers and white women and women of color now make up 47 percent of the workplace, things have changed very little on the homefront.

The article states that because of new laws women may be able to get ahead in the workplace (even though problems still exist there also), but in many instances things at home remain remarkably the same as they did in their parents’ generation. “Even if they work full-time outside the home, women are still perceived as having the primary responsibility for taking care of home and family. Women do more of the cleaning, cooking, child care (to be discussed next time), laundry and grocery shopping.”

Further, it states, “Researchers have found that although today’s men tend to do more housework than their fathers did, the tasks more often considered ‘male’ are ones such as yard work and car maintenance. 

What were the results as far as my survey was concerned?

With the advent of microwave ovens and the wider range of restaurants these days, not to mention the pre-prepared items available in grocery store aisles, are women cooking less  and quicker meals?  Are men cooking more? Are couples eating out a lot?

The answer to my first question, “How often do you cook?” was met with a variety of answers. They ranged from, “Cooking, what’s that? That’s what restaurants are made for,” “(laughter) I don’t remember,” “I don’t,” “My husband cooks-he says I am dangerous in a kitchen” to “Every day,”

“Often,” and one wife even said, “Three times a day.”

The meal most often prepared was dinner, with breakfast being second favorite.
Statistically speaking, 21 percent said they cook at least one meal a day; 12 percent said once or twice a week; 8 percent said once a month or on special occasions; 7 percent said rarely or never; and 52 percent said anywhere from three to five times a week with three being the most often.

As far as husbands cooking, answers included, “Ha, Ha, Ha,” “Zero, Uno, Zilch,” “If I have a meeting,” and “When he feels like it.” On the opposite end of the spectrum, some said, “Every day” and “All the time.”

The statistics said 35 percent of husbands cook rarely or sometimes; 20 percent cook two to four times a week; 14 percent cook every day; 12 percent cook once a week; and 24 percent never cook.
Three percent said they have a hired cook or someone else in the household cooks.

Has the economy affected the number of families eating out? Apparently, not a lot.

Forty-eight percent said they eat out an average of two to four times a week; 9 percent said at least once a day; 5 percent said five times a week; 16 percent said once a week; 14 percent said once or twice a month; 8 percent said rarely or sometimes; and 5 percent said never.
The response to quick meals or leftovers was met with everything from “Every time I cook,” “Often, with small children,” to “Never, we don’t like them.” Sixty-nine percent said two to four times a week; 16 percent said once in awhile or sometimes; 6 percent said every day; and 9 percent said never.

How about the housework? Do the husbands share?

There were some good answers to this one: “No, he sits in the chair,” “He takes out the trash,” “He cleans his bathroom-sometimes,” “Only if I nag,” “He cleans every day-I think he has a disorder,” and “Yes, I have the best husband in the world-we share everything.”

As far as the actual statistics, an overwhelming 52 percent said their husbands share in the vacuuming, laundry and other housework; 22 percent said their husbands do housework sometimes or occasionally; 16 percent said rarely or never; and 7 percent said all the time.

Three percent said they have a maid or someone else who does it.

But wives, we aren’t letting you off so easily. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander! How many wives do chores generally associated with a “man’s role?”

Fifty-four percent said they share with their husbands; 30 percent said never; 16 percent said sometimes or occasionally; and 2 percent said all the time. 
One area we did not include in the survey was shopping for the family or grocery shopping, but several wives volunteered that their husbands do all the grocery shopping or that they do it together.

One observation I made was that African-American women seemed to have a slight edge over the others in getting their men to cooperate. Statistics show that about the same number of men cook, but more help out in the house. Slightly more do all of the cleaning. Asian and Indian women were more likely to say their husbands do not cook or do housework or do it less often.

Retired women seemed to be a little more likely to say they go out to eat a lot or their husbands share in housework and cooking. Perhaps because their husbands are retired also or because at this point in their lives, they are tired of cooking and housework and feel they deserve it. Not surprisingly, women who work outside the home tend to cook less often and husbands help out slightly more than women who say they are strictly housewives.

What is my assessment in the area of cooking and housework? I generally tend to agree with my sources. We’re making progress, but is it enough?

“While studies show that men have picked up some of the slack in recent years, they’re still more likely to be slackers on the home front—even when their wives work,” said Myers. “And these additional demands complicate work life even for the most dedicated professional women.”

Check in again next week when we will talk about child care and managing household finances.