Modern Men

Please read the article:

If you want a job doing properly, do it yourself, goes the old adage. 

And for millions of women across the UK, this familiar saying has an unwelcome ring of truth. A new study has revealed that women spend three hours a week redoing chores they consider their partner hasn't done properly.

Doing the laundry, vacuuming and washing up are the main tasks which men fail to complete to their wife or girlfriend's satisfaction.

Not rearranging sofa cushions tidily enough, making the bed incorrectly and wiping down kitchen worktops are also areas where men fall short.

A spokesman for Sainsbury's, which carried out the study among 2,000 women, said: 'Modern day men do more household chores than ever before, and nearly half of all couples now share working and looking after the house together.

‘Although it’s impossible for women to do everything themselves, if jobs aren’t done to the desired standard by their partner, often many feel they could do better themselves.’

The study found nearly half of the women surveyed claimed their partner often washes up, but doesn’t finish the job by wiping down the kitchen sides.

A third said their men leave sofa cushions in a mess while 32 per cent never bother to make the bed.

And 28 per cent said their man would happily cook an evening meal - but then leave the kitchen in a state with food splatters all over the oven.

But despite the findings, two thirds of women admit their partners do genuinely try to get things right, and four in 10 households now share the chores evenly. Men are also more likely to throw mess into drawers rather than sort things out properly, or put things away in the wrong place so they are never found again.

The laundry causes a multitude of problems - as men hang too many clothes together on the rack so they don’t dry, rarely separate the darks from the lights and don’t fold anything before putting away in the wardrobe.

When it comes to washing up, most men prefer to stack dishes in a mountain on the draining board rather than drying up, or if they have a dishwasher, they’ll over-fill it preventing everything from getting clean. Even the vacuuming leaves women angry, as their partner only vacuums the middle of the room and then proceeds to walk around the house with shoes on afterwards.

The Sainsbury’s spokesman added: ‘Two thirds of women admit they find they’re pleased when their partners get involved with the cleaning, and are glad when he has recognised that these things don’t get done by themselves.

‘Perhaps it is the case that men just don’t care as much and don’t realise how much work goes into having a clean and tidy home - and after a long day at work they are more concerned about putting their feet up than plumping pillows.’

And despite spending the equivalent of one whole week every year re-doing housework, over half of women reckon that if their partner could be bothered, they would actually do a better job than them of the chores because they would be more thorough.

Vocabulary:

What is the difference between "doing the washing" and "doing the washing up"?

What does "adage", "splatters", "chores", "to stack" and "plumping pillows" mean?

Discussion:

Please give a short summary of the article.

Are you a modern man / Do you live with a modern man?

Do you / does your partner help with the chores ( washing, cooking, cleaning)?

Do men and women have different priorities in their lives?

Is housework a woman’s job?

Should men be independent and be able to cook and clean?

Do mothers treat boys differently to girls?

Do you believe it is important to teach children about looking after a home?