Modern men are adept at a string of household chores which their fathers would never have even attempted, it has emerged. A study of 2,000 men found six out of ten men regularly vacuum, clean bathrooms, wash up and iron.
Working washing machines, microwaves and dishwashers are also now well within the remit of millions of modern men.
It also emerged that despite growing up in a household where mum dominated 80% of the cleaning, 77% of men are now ‘hands on’ at home.
Indeed, the average bloke will complete at least 33 cleaning tasks every single week.
A spokesman for Bosch, which commissioned the poll said:
”Society has changed from years ago, where dad went out to work and left mum to deal with the majority of the household chores.
”Women are as career focussed as men, and in most cases, even those raising a family are juggling it with a part time job.
”So the chores are largely shared between couples in most households, with men being as proficient at cooking, washing and ironing as their partner.
”And with the rise of technology comes a higher level of interest from men, as suddenly cleaning is as much about the working gadgetry as the maintenance of the house.”
The study shows two thirds of men will often return home from a busy day at work and immediately start doing the chores rather than sitting down to relax.
And a third admit that a bit of vacuuming or washing up actually helps them to unwind from the stresses and strains of a busy day.
But despite running the vacuum around at least twice a week, seven in 10 men claim they never saw their own father’s yielding a vacuum cleaner.
While modern men wash up at least five times a week, six in 10 said their mum was always the one found at the kitchen sink when they were growing up.
Similarly, the average man today will dust a couple of times a week, but 90% never saw their dad hold a duster or furniture polish.
In addition, nine out of ten men never saw their own dads making the beds, 87% claim they didn’t ever use the washing machine and 89% said they never ironed.
But today’s men will happily clean the toilets and bathrooms twice a week, tidy up four times a week, and iron on average twice a week.
Which explains why 73% of modern men claim to clean more than their own fathers ever did, carrying out chores for just under four hours in total each week.
When it comes to the household gadgets, most men are pretty proficient at using items such as the microwave, washing machines, fridge, kettle and oven.
Indeed, half of those polled actually offer to do more cleaning after purchasing a new appliance, because they are interested in seeing how it works.
The Bosch spokesman added:
”It just goes to show that modern life has changed the traditional rolls within a house hold.
”Our survey shows that the majority of men indicated that their partner also works full time so, they are pitching in to help.
”Overwhelmingly, our survey found that since the days of their fathers – men are taking on more responsibility inside the home.”
BREAKDOWN OF MODERN MAN’S AVERAGE CLEANING EACH WEEK:
Number of times chore is completed
Vacuum 2
Washing up 5
Stack the dishwasher 3
Clean the bathrooms 2
Clean the toilets 2
Iron 2
Put a wash load on 3
Hang out the washing 3
Dusting 2
Cooking 5
Tidies up 4