The Fact
Pew Research Center’s synthesis of historical time-diary data found that mothers averaged about 32 hours per week of housework in 1965 and about 18 hours per week in 2011.
What This Means
The amount of time mothers spent on housework fell sharply over the same period that their paid work increased. Household needs did not automatically disappear, so the remaining work had to be reduced, reorganized, automated, purchased, or done by someone else.
Sources
- Pew Research Center, Modern Parenthood: Americans’ Time at Paid Work, Housework and Child Care, 1965–2011.