Bhagwat and Rajguru

Table 1, shows the distribution of the 42 ‘everyday family chores’ divided into five

categories. Out of these the major three categories that constituted almost three

fourth of the ‘everyday family chores’ by contributing about one quarter portion

each are namely, Kitchen and food related work (23.8%), cleaning related chores

(23.8%), and routine maintenance work (26.19%). ‘Routine maintenance work’

emerged as the biggest category of everyday family chores with 11 chores listed

under the same, while the chores related to children and elders in family appeared

as the smallest category with only 5 chores listed in it.

Table No. 2 shows that some of the ‘everyday family chores’ are not at all done by

men of the sample population, such as, cleaning the bathroom and toilet, wiping the

floor, brooming or sweeping the house, cleaning the kitchen platform, washing the

utensils and bathing small children in the family and works like simple stitching

and mending, cleaning the lofts, dusting or cleaning furniture, serving the food,

preparing Tiffin for family members and cooking are done by less than 5% men

in the sample population. On the other hand, buying milk, dropping children to

school, taking children for haircut, washing of vehicle, servicing or repair and

maintenance of vehicle, maintenance of garden are the less popular chores among

women and less than 20% women found doing them with ‘servicing or repair and

maintenance of vehicle’ being the least liked work done by only 8.92% women.

However, as a fact not a single ‘everyday family chore’ was not done by women.

Cooking, preparing Tiffin for family members and washing the utensils were done

by more than 98% women in the sample population in spite of their gainfully

working status.

Surprisingly, uncomplicated ‘everyday family chores’ like simple stitching

and mending, bathing small children in the family, preparing Tiffin for family

members and also backbreaking ‘everyday family chores’ of washing the utensils,

cleaning the kitchen platform, brooming or sweeping wiping the floor, the house

and wiping the floor were not considered at all the responsibility of men and

the major (more than 90%) responsibility of these chores is assumed by women

in the family. ‘Everyday family chores’ such as filling drinking water, buying

grocery, serving the food, folding the dried cloths, washing clothes by hand or in

machine, dusting or cleaning furniture, cleaning the lofts, maintenance of garden,

arranging or cleaning cupboards, ironing the cloths, were also not assumed a

man’s responsibility with less than 5% respondents declaring it a man’s liability.

Out of the 42 ‘everyday family chores’ only four chores namely, buying cloths

or other fabric accessories (53.57%), routine banking transactions (45.53%),

performing deva-puja (daily rituals) (53.57%), hospitability of guests (79.46%)

were considered as responsibility of both men and women by nearly half (45%)

of the respondents. In the true sense only ‘hospitability of guests’ was considered

a shared responsibility among all the listed ‘everyday family chores’ with almost

80% (79.46%) sample agreeing to it.

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