Are women Doing it All?

Making a list of chores to do when she gets home?

British businesswomen work three times harder in the home than men, according to a survey.

Financial services group Bibby Financial suggested a new nickname for women trying to juggle work and home life - 'DIALLs', or Do It Alls.

The group said its survey suggested most women under the age of 45 spend 15 hours on housework a week, compared to the average of between two and five hours for men.

Perhaps more worrying for career women, was the suggestion that only one in ten men think women make a better boss.

Do It Alls

Bibby's survey of juggling work with home life, or 'DAILLing', suggested this is hard to achieve.

Around 90% of the women questioned said achieving a balance was the key to business success.

But Bibby chief executive David Robertson said:

"Regardless of whether they have a demanding day job, women still bear the responsibility for the majority of domestic chores in the home"

"(They) struggle to successfully balance the competing demands of work and home life."

Leading ladies

The businesswomen questioned listed Baroness Thatcher, otherwise known as the 'Iron Lady', as their heroine.

Anita Roddick is seen as an inspiration to many working women

She was followed by the Harry Potter author J K Rowling, and Anita Roddick, who founded the Body Shop chain.

The good news for women is that discrimination appears to be waning.

The survey suggested 27% of women over the age of 45 had suffered discrimination or harassment.

However, only one in ten women under the age of 45 claimed to have had a similar experience.

Your comments:

Yes I work 8 to 5 and run a home, with two teenage sons and toyboy boyfriend. It is exhausting to say the least. Although my boyfriend is a "new man" and has wonderful ideas, due to his hectic schedule, he is too tired to help out much around the house. But then men have never been able to do more than one thing at a time...
Tracey Dare, UK

I feel myself very lucky. My boyfriend cooks most meals and the house work is split between us. I think I have found the perfect man!
Ali, Uk

My leisure time is too precious to iron his boxer shorts - as much as I love him

Jules, England

I have a full-time job as well as studying part-time for a degree and my husband and I ended up paying a cleaner to come once a week to do our major housework - it's just not possible to do it otherwise. The decision to hire a cleaner was my decision, since I was the one ending up doing the housework, but mainly because it mattered more to me that it was done correctly, left to my husband it would not be to the standard I would like it to be.
Jennifer, Netherlands

I am a full-time nurse, with a husband and three boys. I do 90 pc of the household chores, my husband never cooks, and does not take responsibility.
Julie Corbin, England

Working women do all the housework do they? Not at our house they don't.....
Oppressed Bloke, UK

I do the majority of the housework. My wife has a longer commute that I do so I tend to do a fair bit of the housework before she gets home, particularly cooking and washing up. My wife mainly just does the laundry at weekends.
Matt, UK

This is appalling. If both partners are working full time then the responsibility for housework should be shared equally. Simple as that.
Katy, UK

I am a man, I do not have a woman to do the house work so I do it myself. I wish women would stop moaning the whole damn time and just get on with it.
John, UK

I do more housework than my girlfriend

Dave, UK

I have a full-time, well paid, stressful job, and yes, the responsibility for household chores and planning still falls on my shoulders...it's still the cause of most of our rows at home. My husband says he wants to help, but of course if left to him, things don't get done. However, I must say that my husband is an exceptional cook, so there is some consolation!
JB, UK

I have friends who live as the only girl with male housemates and they do the lot and pay equal rent. I wouldn't put up with that.
Laurie, UK

I am 49 years of age and have been married for 29 years and have a daughter aged 22 who is still at home. I have always worked full time and only took five months maternity leave in 1980. I have worked for the same firm for 21 years and for the same person. I have always done the housework including the shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing, and ironing and sorting all the bills etc. but to me this has never been a chore as it always gives me a sense of achievement and keeps me from being idle.
Pat Ward, UK

It is not that my husband's not willing, it's just that he seems to be blind when it comes to noticing when jobs need doing!

Ali, UK

I do more housework than my girlfriend. She works longer hours and her commute takes longer. Most nights I'll cook, wash up, pick her up from the station and do a bit of tidying. Do I mind? Not really, it's not like she's sits there with her feet up watching me.
Dave, UK

There are more important things to life than housework. My leisure time is too precious to iron his boxer shorts - as much as I love him!
Jules, England

Many men are indifferent to whether housework is done or not, whereas women are usually more fussy. Most men don't ask women to do the housework - women just do it spontaneously.
Anon, England

I used to have a system that worked by assigning Blue and Pink jobs for around the house

Rob Jones, UK

The problem in my house is not that my husband's not willing, it's just that he seems to be blind when it comes to noticing when jobs need doing! I hate leaving lists for him but it seems to be the only way!
Ali, UK

My wife and I both work full-time, she looks after the washing and ironing, I do 99% of the cooking (and no junk food in our house!), we shop together at weekends and spend the rest of the time trying to get teenage sons to tidy and clean up after themselves.
Chris, UK

There's a major reason as to why women do more of the housework, the men just can't see it half the time. Men tend to have a much higher 'dirt threshold' than women.
Stewart Graham, UK

I have found in general the problem is that us blokes try and do the housework but never end up doing it properly in the eyes of women. I used to have a system that worked by assigning Blue and Pink jobs for around the house!
Rob Jones, UK

I work an 8 hour day and have a 1 hour bus journey home. My fiancé works mostly 10 hour days but works round the corner from our home. I do most of the housework whilst he plays on computer games and grouches about me "fussing about". It is putting a lot of stress on our relationship. He does the washing though.
Christine, England

I spend most of my weekends not with my two young sons enjoying life, but catching up with the housework, washing and ironing I have neglected during the week because I am too tired come 9pm at night to do.
Liz, UK

Women always do more than 50% of the domestic duties no matter how demanding the outside job. Any man who thinks he is doing 50% of the work is kidding himself. It's the small things (and some are not so small) women do every day that add up, not the occasional DIY project. I don't know if it is a natural nesting quality, that women care more about the house or that Tracey (above) is correct in that men can't do more than one thing at a time. Whatever the reason, thank you ladies you make our lives much better!
Don, USA

I resent having my house work efforts ignored and dismissed, simply because I am man

Mick, UK

I believe that if you both live in the same house, you are both responsible for carrying out the work. My wife and I split the housework between us, with whoever is around at the time doing the cooking, cleaning, pet chores, etc. That is all except for the ironing which apparently I wouldn't be able to do to the required standard!!
Michael , UK

To Tracey Dare. Where do you get off saying "But then men have never been able to do more than one thing at a time..." Is there really any need for this man-hating talk. Long gone are the days men tell women to 'get back in the kitchen', so I suggest you grow up. I live with my girlfriend and she clutters up the place in minutes after I have tidied up. I do most of the cooking - and enjoy it - most of the washing up, most of the clothes washing, and basically most of the household chores. I even enjoy food shopping. Yet when I complain to my girlfriend that she might want to help occasionally, when I am stuck for time, she gives me verbal abuse, albeit in jest. Therefore, I resent having my house work efforts ignored and dismissed, simply because I am man.
Mick, UK

I would love to say my bloke was a ¿new man¿, unfortunately he is the only one who thinks so. After cleaning the bathroom twice in the two years we¿ve lived together he¿ll happily tell his friends he does his share of housework. To make matters worse he fails to recognise the amount of time it really takes to clean the whole house I am starting to make up timesheets for my housework as this seems to be the only way to make him understand!
Exasperated Girlfriend, UK

Where have they had these figures from. 15 hours a week on average for women. If I show that to my wife she'll collapse in shock.
Mark, UK

I would like to say that the chores in my household are split 50/50 but in reality I do 80% of housework - it's easier to get on with it than have to ask, then ask again, then issue a gentle reminder, then do it myself anyway! And John of the UK - making comments like that it's not surprising you live on your own.
Kirsten Brumfitt, Leeds, UK

Why do we think men are "kindly" "helping out" when they clean the loo? Its time women expected men to pulll their weight with no extra thanks. I am a full time mother so do more than my husband who works long hours. Thats the deal. You take the money so you pull your weight.
KK, England

Well, I work the longer hours, am the major breadwinner, do most of the cleaning, most of the cooking, all of the shopping. But my partner does much of the DIY, which I loathe, so it's a fair swap to me. Just find a trade that's equitable, and remember that housework isn't the be all and end all of the relationship. Oh - I'm the bloke, by the way!
Ian, UK

My wife and I both share the house work and while shes at home with our children she does end up doing more than me. However to ease the burden we spend £21 pounds a week (three hours) on a cleaner to come round and do a full house clean. The cleaner does a fantastic job! Before everybody accuses us of being stinking rich. Don't! We make sacrifices to afford this luxury and its far too important in our relationship that this issue of who does the most housework comes between us.
Daniel, UK