I got sent a link to this household economy calculator today. It’s been created by Cornhill Direct (insurance company) and gives you an idea of what the (household) work you and other people in your house do is worth in monetary terms. It also gives you percentages to show who does the most work. It’s quite fun, but it’s also quite detailed and interesting what it shows. (Could be of use in divorce settlements!)
I filled it in thinking that I might get something to show hubby that would prove how much more housework I do than him. I figured the split would probably be 75% to 25% in my favour (i.e. me doing 75%). But it was actually only 59% to 41%, so not hugely far off half each. I wonder if that’s because we both work from home and are in a better position than some to split the household tasks, or whether I just found me a good a bloke. (Or maybe I just estimated wrong – perhaps I should count everything up over a fortnight to see if I was accurate or not.)
And it looks like we’d have to pay out around £35,000 a year to get someone else (or multiple someone elses) to do it all for us. I think we’ll probably be doing our own washing and gardening for a while, then.
Would be interested to hear the results other people get. More than just a mother, maybe you should stick the nanny’s tasks in there and make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
Hi Tasha, I had the same e-mail (and there was I thinking I'd been especially selected...) and am half-way through a post about it, but got distracted by Tara's photo tag, and a subsequent need to post a picture of my breasts on my blog. It will come.
ReplyDeleteI was quite chuffed to get the email, though I figured others would probably get it too. Posting pictures of your breasts on the internet, should of course take priority over most other tasks.
ReplyDeleteHope you're enjoying being back at work.
I have done the calculator and am wondering why I am not driving a Bentley rather than a Nissan Micra given the contribution I make to the household economy. My partner does make a considerable contribution - indeed, he does 137% more than the average man. Mostly due to my low boredom threshold when it comes to washing and drying dishes.
ReplyDeleteI have this bizarre fussiness about washing dishes, where no-one else other than my sister is allowed to do them. (Because no-one else actually gets them clean! Really. No-one. In the whole world.) Fortunately, we have a dishwasher. I am very happy to let the dishwasher do the dishes for me.
ReplyDeleteAck. I didn't compare. I should have printed out the results, really, so I could refer back to it at opportune moments.
Hope the first week went well.