Women do 5 hours more housework after marriage Men do 2 hours fewer

MILLIONS of women say "I do" to hours of extra housework when they marry, according to a study released yesterday

But married men end up doing far less round the house than when they were single.

Experts say that, for the average British woman, life as part of a couple means more time spent on household chores.

Single women in Britain spend an average of 10 hours a week on housework, while single men only spend seven hours a week on domestic chores.

But as soon as couples wed, women's time on housework increases dramatically to an average of 15 hours a week, while men see time spent on cleaning fall to five hours a week.

However, women's willingness to do domestic drudgery could hamper them when it comes to breaking through the glass ceiling at work, say experts.

The findings were revealed in research published by the Royal Economic Society in London.

Helene Couprie, an economist at Toulouse University in France, used data taken from the British household panel survey for the study.

She said inequalities in the home could promote the same gender differences at work.

Couprie added: "The division of labour within families may explain the influence of household inequalities on gender inequalities in the workplace.

"The specialisation of women into housework may explain why women accumulate fewer skills on the labour market and tend to be less productive.

"This has a direct consequence for the wage gap.

"On the other hand, gender inequalities in the labour market tend to worsen household inequalities.

"It appears that 80 per cent of household inequalities are driven by differences in the labour market wage rates between spouses.

"Clearly, the links between household inequalities and gender inequalities in the workplace are really tight."

But Couprie also acknowledged that British women had made substantial advances in terms of gender equality during the 20th century.

Among these were the right to vote and use birth control, and equal access to education and the workplace.

Couprie said the pay gap could disappear by the end of this century.

She added: "But should we be so optimistic? Maybe not.

"Gender relations in the private sphere are still based on a persistent segregation of gender roles in the family.

"This leads to a less visible gender inequality in terms of sharing housework and childcare."