TheBabyWebsite's latest survey of 3000 disgruntled mums shows half of all mums don't think their partner helps out as much as they should with the children, fails to do his share of the housework and has little involvement with house admin.

Eight in 10 mums say their partner is overly committed to his job, and six in 10 claim he works ridiculously long hours. But more than a third say as a result, Dad is too absorbed in his work and lets it spill over into family life. 75% of mums accuse Dad of having nothing to do with the upbringing of their children and 78% say that he doesn't lift a finger around the house.

Even when Dads do get a break from the daily grind and take a short break or holiday with the family, a quarter continues to check for work emails on the laptop.

Kathryn Crawford, Co-Editor of TheBabyWebsite said:
'While mums aren't saying their partners are bad parents, they clearly want to have a little more help and presence around the house. From a mum's perspective, they spend all day long working their fingers to the bone with the children and housework, and then dad rolls in from work, drops his stuff and puts his feet up. Meanwhile mum is expected to carry on the good work, providing the evening meal, getting the children to bed and tidying up the house afterwards so that it doesn't look like a bomb has hit it. The point within this research is that while mums acknowledge dads work really hard, so do they, and it wouldn't hurt for this to be acknowledged from time to time.'

Unfortunately, the poll shows two thirds of mums feel they cope alone for much of the time, and are left to manage the house and the children as well as any part time jobs they might have. Half of mums say that because dad works really hard in the office, he assumes he doesn't need to do anything when he comes home. Instead, eight in 10 dads are guilty of coming home and putting their feet up after a long day, leaving mum to carry on the good work.

But mums have a list of chores as long as their arm which they wish dads would help out with. Six in 10 mums would be happy if dads tidied after themselves, rather than dumping their belongings everywhere as soon as they entered the front door. More than a third would appreciate dads cleaning the toilets in the house, and 26 per cent would like him to make more of an effort to fix things around the house.

The fourth job mums wish dad would take ownership for is hanging out the washing if they hear the machine stop, rather than just ignoring it. Vacuuming, tidying up after the children go to bed, disciplining the children and washing up are also jobs mum would like help with.

Kathryn Crawford continues:
'The thing is mums aren't paid for what they do, and their partners aren't considering that just because they don't leave the house by 8am every morning, they aren't working all day long. But mums should give themselves a good pat on the back, the fact of the matter is that they do such a good job from day to day, their partners don't even realise how much gets done in the 10 hours they are out of the house.'

Seven in 10 women claim they would be much happier if their partner didn't take them for granted and helped a little more around the house. And a third reckon they would be prepared to cope with less money if their partner worked shorter hours and spent more time with them and the children.

TOP 20 JOBS MUMS WISH DAD WOULD DO
1. Tidy up after themselves
2. Clean the toilets
3. Fix things around the house
4. Hang out the washing if they hear the machine stop
5. Put a load of washing on
6. Vacuum the house
7. Tidy up after the children go to bed
8. Wash up
9. Cook
10. Tend to the garden
11. Make the beds
12. Discipline the children
13. Play with the children
14. Change the bed sheets
15. Ironing
16. House administration
17. Bath the children
18. Put the children to bed
19. Read the children bedtime stories
20. Pay the bills

June 2010

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