What a BS article...
Fathers avoid the dirty work in child-rearing
Kylie Hansen From: Herald Sun July 08, 2011 6:56PM
Dads in 2011 still pick up the traditional male housework roles. PerthNow
DADS might be happy to hold the baby but are leaving the dirtier aspects of childcare to their wives, according to research.
Nappy changes are still on the nose for most dads and when it comes to vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom and toilet training, women carry the load.
Men prefer to roam their traditional terrain and have clung to garbage duties and yard work to earn their keep at home.
A survey of mums by nappy giant Kimberly-Clark reveals most homes still operate along traditional gender divides.
It shows 70 per cent of mums say they do the nappy changes, 72 per cent the vacuuming, 80 per cent the cleaning of bathrooms, 83 per cent the laundry and 70 per cent the toilet training.
In contrast, it was up to dad to put out the garbage and do outside duties.
The survey canvassed the opinions of 637 Australian mums with children aged 0-3 as part of a Huggies online panel.
Many mums were also happy for their partners to put their feet up at home with 45 per cent agreeing their partner worked all day and they let them relax when they returned home.
Parents were, however, happy to share the big decisions, such as childcare, vaccinations and education, with 79 per cent agreeing their partner became more involved as their child grew.
Bathing the kids was big with dads, with 71 per cent of mums saying their partner did this.
When it came to product choice, however, it was clear who was in charge with 58 per cent of women saying they tell their partner exactly what size and brand to buy when it comes to getting nappies.
"Mums are still making most of the purchasing decisions," said Kimberly-Clark's Alla Nock.
"It seems mum still gives dad a list of things to buy and dad's main responsibility is putting the garbage out and helping with cleaning," Ms Nock said.
Social analyst David Chalke said he was not surprised.
"Men are just not to be trusted - we come back from the supermarket with the wrong size or fail to find the hypo-allergenic offering," Mr Chalke said.
"The chances are we will get it wrong as we just don't run these sorts of errands as often.
"Part of it comes back to the traditional division of roles and the fact is this is how it still is in most households even if both partners are working full-time.
"He hunts, she gathers.
"There is still a hangover of traditional role division - he does the bins and gutters and she does the nappies.
"It follows what our mothers and fathers did.
"A lot of it is still ingrained after millions of years of evolution and it does not seem to be a source of stress.
"Most couples find an accommodating structure which suits them both to an extent in terms of who does what."
Melbourne couple Zoe McLellan, 26, and Tim Hum, 33, said it didn't quite work exactly like that in their household."
With a baby on the way, Ms McLellan says the couple will share baby jobs, but related chores were different.
"Tim does most of the cooking, although I do all the cleaning and washing, but if I ask him he will do it," she said.
Although when it comes to outside duties, she admits it is still very much a male zone.
"That is Tim's world," Ms McLellan said.
"He does the gardening, the bins and the removal of spiders and I leave most of that to him.
"I can handle the nappies but I can't handle the smell of the bins. Tim's worded up, he knows his roles."
She says she mainly gets up at night for daughter Tia, 3, but with child number two she expects she will be up mainly with feeds but that Tim will help if she is tired or unwell.