英國女性依然負擔大部分家務
Women have fought hard for equality but a staggering 82 per cent still do the housework in their home, according to a revealing new study into Britain's cleaning habits.
Just eight per cent of husbands and boyfriends pull their weight when it comes to household chores, figures show.
More than a third of young adults aged under 24 admit they rely on their parents to clean up after them, while two per cent of Brits pay a professional cleaner.
Although men do much less round the home it would seem they are hard task masters with a third insisting 'I like my house to be clean at all times'.
The fact 15 per cent of men describe cleaning as 'too much hard work' provides some insight into why they pass the buck when it comes to housework.
And women feel that, even in this day and age, the cleanliness of their home reflects on them with half saying they get embarrassed when it isn't clean and refuse to accept visitors.
At one end of the spectrum, one in eight Brits don't allow people to wear shoes in their home, while one in ten admit they simply don't care if others think their house is dirty.
The Cleaner Living study by domestic appliance manufacturer Miele revealed a host of cleaning errors we make and ways in which we try to hide the dirt away.
Twenty seven percent of us have turned over a cushion to hide a stain, twelve per cent have covered a stained carpet with a piece of furniture and five per cent have swept dirt under a rug.
Four in ten admit they have simply swept dirt from a kitchen surface or table onto the floor, while a quarter have used a dish cloth to mop up a spillage on the floor and just put it back.
A mucky four per cent have even used a dish cloth to clean pet bowls and then continued to use it for washing up.
Relationship expert Phillip Hodson, spokesman for the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, said many men still regard traditional housework as 'women's work'.
He said: 'Many men see putting oil in the car or changing a light bulb as doing their bit around the house but still see cooking and cleaning as women's work.
一項有關英國人的清潔習慣的新研究驚人地揭示，儘管女性爲實現平等進行了艱苦的鬥爭，但是多達82%的女性依然要負責家中的家務活。
數據表明，只有8%的丈夫和男友在家務上盡了自己的本分。
24歲以下的成年人中超過三分之一承認他們靠父母來替自己做清理工作，而2%的英國人付錢請專職清潔工來收拾。
儘管男性在家中乾的活兒要少得多，但他們似乎卻是嚴苛的監工，三分之一的男性堅稱“我喜歡自己的房子一直都保持乾淨”。
有15%的男性認爲清潔工作是“繁重活兒”，這一事實有助於理解爲什麼在家務上他們會推卸責任。
然而，時至今日，女性依然覺得家中是否清潔關乎自己的形象，有一半的女性說當家中髒亂而不能接待客人時，她們會覺得難爲情。
調查結果出現兩個極端，八分之一的英國人不允許人們穿鞋進屋，而十分之一的英國人坦言說他們根本不在乎別人認爲他們家裏髒亂。
家用電器製造商美諾公司開展的“讓生活更清潔”研究顯示，我們在清潔上犯了很多錯誤，而且用許多辦法來遮蓋塵污。
27%的英國人曾把坐墊翻過來以隱藏污跡，12%的人曾用一件傢俱蓋住沾有污跡的地毯，5%的人曾把灰塵掃進地毯底下。
十分之四的人坦言他們會直接把廚房竈臺或桌上的灰塵拂到地板上，而四分之一的人曾用洗碗布把濺到地板上的東西抹乾淨，然後直接把布放回去。
還有4%的邋遢人甚至用洗碗布來清洗寵物用的碗，然後接着用它來洗其他碗碟。
英國心理諮詢及心理治療協會的發言人、婚戀專家菲利普•霍德森說，許多男性依然認爲傳統的家務是“女人的工作”。
他說：“許多男性認爲給汽車加油或是換燈泡是他們在家應該乾的，而做飯和清掃則是女人的事。”
Vocabulary:
staggering: so large, shocking or surprising that it is difficult to believe （大得驚人的；駭人的；難以想像的）
revealing: giving you interesting information that you did not know before（揭露真相的；發人深省的）
pullone's weight: to do the work that one is obligated to（盡本分）
task master: 工頭；監工
pass the buck: 推卸責任
a host of: 大量
mucky: dirty（骯髒的；污穢的）
do one's bit: 儘自己的一份力量
