[Study] Work Is Not to Blame for Women’s Lack of Free Time

Written by Raouf

Topics: General, Tips & Lists, Worth Reading

The results of the Women and Time: Setting a New Agenda survey, commissioned by Real Simple and designed by the nonprofit Families and Work Institute have revealed that much of the time pressure experienced by women is self-imposed, due to trouble delegating and letting go of control. Turns out that women who set aside regular free time are more satisfied with their lives (50% report being very satisfied, versus 41% of those who regularly postpone their free time).

While 49% of women say they do not have enough free time, the culprit is not their jobs. In fact, 68% of women say that work does not interfere with their personal lives. And with recent research showing that men are helping more with household chores and childcare than ever before, why are women so stressed out?
For many women, there is a palpable feeling of guilt: 32% of married/partnered women often feel that if they did less around the house, they would not be properly taking care of it.
Interestingly, money is not necessarily a barrier to relieving many women of their responsibilities, with nearly half (45%) of respondents saying they would not hire more household help if they could afford it, and nearly 69% saying that they would not hire more child care if they could afford it.
The women surveyed reported doing tasks, including laundry (79%), cleaning (75%), cooking (70%) and organizing/de-cluttering (62%), during their free time, proving that women spend their free time doing copious numbers of chores.
While many believe that their spouse is capable, they don’t think their partner would do the chores the way they want them done. A considerable percentage said they would feel uncomfortable delegating tasks like decorating (62%), managing the finances (59%) or organizing/de-cluttering (53%) to their spouse or partner. In some cases, women are more likely to delegate daily chores to their children (17%) than to their spouse (9%).