Even little kids have a wage gap

[redstar826]

Girls do more housework than boys -- and they make less in allowance for what they doGender as an organizing principle for how we value labor appears to have depressingly early, yet unsurprising, roots. Boys, on average, spend two fewer hours doing household chores per week than girls do (they play two hours more). And if they live in households

Comments

[scolaro]

For example, mowing the lawn generally garners higher allowance wages than folding laundry. Shoveling a snow-covered driveway might yield more cash in hand than emptying the dishwasher.

The article is not surprising, but the examples aren't great, IMO. Mowing a huge garden can take more time/effort than folding a bag of laundry, and emptying a dishwasher may be done quicker than shoveling a driveway. (And vice versa, of course.)

At any rate, chores shouldn't be tied to gender, and everyone should get the same pay for the same work, obviously!

[elialshadowpine]

I don't know, I'd take mowing the lawn over mating the sock basket any day. That shit took hours.

[anolinde]

gorl, how many socks did you have??

[elialshadowpine]

Oh my gods. We literally had a sock basket. Not a cute little straw basket, either, I mean a monstrous big ole hamper sized basket. Probably about once a year was the great project to go through the sock basket, find the mates, and toss the ones we couldn't find. It was usually a full day project.

And no, we never did figure out where the socks all went. -_-

[scolaro]

Wow, that sounds awful. Guess I'm lucky my immediate family is rather small and we never had this sort of problem... o.O'

[elialshadowpine]

Lol, it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized not everyone had giant baskets full of unmated socks. XD

[kitchen_poet]

"it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized not everyone had giant baskets full of unmated socks."

That is hilarious!! We didn't have a basket, but my dad was color blind so he'd always fold all the laundry, but then wander around holding black socks and navy blue socks up to a light source and asking everyone "Do these socks technically match?" He also refused to own white socks.

[skellington1]

LOL!

My little brother once matched a black sock to a navy blue glove.

My dad once sorted underwear and gave mom my size 5 pair and me her size 8s. Ever since I've bought dark colored underwear and she's bought light -- even though we haven't lived in the house for years.

[kuiskata]

See, I'd take the socks, myself. Even if it took hours, it's the kind of task you only need to pay half a mind to. Settle down with the socks while watching TV or movies for a few hours? I could do that.

[skellington1]

I've never liked folding laundry, but I just take it as an excuse to watch movies/tv shows. It's about the only tv I ever watch. Sure, matching the socks takes twice as long, but at least I'm entertained! :P

[lenympheas]

The problem is that doing laundry and dishes amount to more work combined than mowing the lawn. For even a family of four, we did dishes all the time and it felt like we were constantly doing loads of laundry. And you mow the lawn once a week maybe? And how often do really have to shovel snow? I'll grant that lawn mowing and more outdoor physical work is more demanding but the indoor domestic stuff feels like it's constant and never ending.

[scolaro]

We never lived in a place with a garden, sadly, so I wouldn't know how demanding it is to mow the lawn, but if you're right - and provided all chores were paid - doing laundry/the dishes would pay more in the long run.
That being said, the only thing I ever got paid to do was ironing my dad's shirts, because he hated doing it himself. Unfortunately for both of us I hated it just as much, so I quit after a few times and rather remained broke.
Neither one of my parents would have considered paying me for the everyday stuff (and it wouldn't even have occurred to me to ask).

[ebay313]

Depends entirely on how large one's yard is and how many dishes/how much laundry one has