Wives in Shanghai do 1.9 more hours of housework each day than their husbands, and over 75 percent of household chores are done by wives, according to a recent survey by the Shanghai women's federation.
The survey, covering 2,352 families in 18 districts and counties, shows that both males and females are spending less time on housework than they did in the early 1990s.
However, the disparity between husbands and wives still exists. The survey shows that wives spend an average 3.5 hours on housework every day. The nearly-two-hour gap between males and females has widened by 36 minutes compared with 1990.
According to the survey, some 44 percent of males and 37 percent of females believe that wives are mainly responsible for household chores so as to support their husbands' career.
It is noteworthy that more females than males believe that "it is better for a girl to marry well, rather than work well," a phenomenon attributed to the widening income gap between men and women, as women in the same position are normally paid less than their men colleagues.
Experts here have called for more efforts to end the disparity between men and women, as women today need time to develop and learn new skills so that they can compete with men equally.
( eastday.com 09/27/2001)
