The so-called Second-Shift isn’t just a figment of the imagination of working women irritated that they have to nag their husbands to do their fair share of the chores. A new study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shows that across the developed world, women do far more of the unpaid domestic work that keeps households running, even when they’re also putting in many hours at work. Men, it’s true, tend to put in more hours at jobs than women do, but when you add together the total number of hours of work, both paid and unpaid, women worked more than men in all but a handful of the developed countries the OECD included in its analysis. In the US, the difference in total time worked is significant but not enormous:  On average, women put in 21 minutes a day more at work and at home than men do (which, coincidentally, is also the average for all OECD countries surveyed). The real difference is between paid and unpaid work — what you might call the “chore gap.” American men put in about 5 hours a day on the job; women put in four. But women make up the difference and then some at home, putting in a little over 4 hours on housework and childcare, compared to only 2.7 hours for men. The work of raising children still falls overwhelmingly to mothers, not fathers. (MORE: More Women Are In the Workforce — So Why Are They Still Doing So Many Chores?) The problem here goes well beyond resentment over who’s been doing their fair share of the dishes. The gender gap in total hours worked, and even more so the vast differences between men and women in paid and unpaid work, help to perpetuate some persistent inequalities. Obviously, women who work fewer hours earn less; they also tend to earn less per hour and get fewer benefits. And it’s hard to put in the hours necessary to compete in high pressure jobs when you’re pulling double duty at home. … Continue reading Closing the Chore Gap