Is your housework split sexist?

More or Less

BBC

Business, Mathematics, Science, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you ever have fights with your partner about who does more of the housework and whether it’s fair? Well data might have the answer.

Corinne Low is an associate professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She analyses surveys of how people spend their time, particularly in terms of “home production” - that is things like cooking and cleaning, and “market work”, that is, paid work.

If you’re the male half of a heterosexual couple, then she’s got some stats you should hear.

Tim sat down to talk it all over while Corinne was in the UK to promote her new book on the subject - titled Femonomics in the UK, and Having It All in the US.

Presenter: Tim Harford Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples Sound mix: Giles Aspen Editor: Richard Vadon

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:07.3	Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron.
0:10.5	Evil genius.
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0:15.5	That's like hiding at your own funeral.
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0:18.6	I'm Russell Kane.
0:19.6	Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius.
0:24.2	Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius.
0:26.4	It also helps that it's a long time ago, right?
0:29.4	It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream.
0:34.9	Listen to Evil Genius on BBC Sounds.
0:38.1	Hello, and thanks for downloading the more or less podcast, with a program that looks at the
0:43.2	numbers in the news and in life and in your marriage. I'm Tim Harford.
0:51.5	Do you ever have fights with your partner about who does more of the housework and whether it's fair?
0:58.2	Well, data might have the answer.
1:01.4	Corinne Lowe is an associate professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
1:06.7	She analyzes surveys of how people spend their time, particularly in terms of home production,
1:13.6	that is, things such as cooking and cleaning, and market work, that is, paid work.
1:20.0	If you're the male half of a heterosexual couple, I'm afraid it's bad news.
1:26.5	Or depending on your point of view, maybe good news, but good
1:29.2	news that you need to make sure your partner doesn't hear. We sat down to talk it all over while
	...

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