Advertisement

Men take on more household shopping

Author thumbnail
Men take on more household shopping
Photo: DPA

German men seem to be learning how to manoeuvre supermarket trolleys - and although women still do more shopping than their menfolk, the gap is shrinking, new data shows.

Advertisement

A study by the Rheinisch-Westphälische Institute for Economics Research (RWI) showed that in 1996 women spent on average 140 minutes a week longer than men doing the shopping for their households. This gap sank to a difference of less than 40 minutes by 2009 - the last year for which the data has been analysed.

And men are also popping to the shops more often than they used to. Back in 1996 women went shopping for the household on average six times a week - compared with just 3.5 times for their male partners. By 2009 this had evened out to an average of around four trips each.

The time spent trailing the aisles has in total shrunk - from an average of nearly six hours - 350 minutes - a week in 1996 for households with children, to just over five hours - 310 minutes.

The researchers found that if the man is the sole-earner, his partner spends more time on the household shopping and goes more frequently than if she is working. But even if both partners are working full time, the women still spend more time doing the shopping.

Couples who do not have children generally spend more time taking care of their households and go shopping more frequently - but there is no difference between the time the partners spend shopping.

The Local/hc

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also