Research says that husbands do not do their fair share of work around the house. A study from an American university says that men seldom do the same share of housework. Researchers interviewed 182 working couples who became first-time parents. Both husbands and wives worked almost the same number of hours in full-time jobs. However, men did five hours a week less housework than women after their baby was born.

    It is a different story for mothers. Becoming a parent added 21 hours a week to a mother's work. Most of this was looking after her baby. New fathers did not do more work because they did not realise the mother was doing so much more. Another reason is that after a baby is born, fathers follow the "traditional" roles. That is, the mother looks after the baby and the father works outside. This happens even when the mother is working the same number of hours in her job.