Sharing the load doesn't seem to be the norm
Men are often only usually for one thing - DIY. That little bit of help putting up the shelves can save you from serious injury. Yet, as much as we may need them, we seem to compain that they don't do enough.
A new survey has revealed however, that it's us women who claim they actually do twice as much DIY as men say they do.
The research, conducted by Checkatrade.com, asked 2,000 homeowners and found that 14 per cent of men admit that the woman on the house does the majority of the DIY. But when you ask women who do the most DIY, they believe it's more like 28 per cent - twice as many.
Commenting on the findings, Alan Redman, director of Criterion Partnership and a chartered occupational psychologist said: "DIY prowess can be an important aspect of self-identity for men. This can lead them to unconsciously over-estimate their level of skill and under-estimate the DIY contributions of others, such as their wives and partners. This is a psychological effect developed to protect the sense of self from threatening thoughts, such as 'my wife is just as good with a power drill than me."
According to the findings, men claim the fairer sex is less handy aroudn the house than the women say they are - and that's in all UK regions.
The research also highlighted a startling disagreement between men and women regarding who makes the decisions on booking a tradesman. Just a quarter of men say it’s the woman who decides on the builder, plumber or sparky, while half of women say, the truth is, it’s actually down to them.
Kevin Byrne, founder of Checkatrade.com, a business committed to stamping out cowboy builders, said: "Going on our own experience, I’d have to say I believe the women.
"We find when we talk to our trade Checkatrade members; they state that the initial call to them is almost always from a woman, they are savvy and very careful about how they choose tradespeople.
"And often it’s a case of women resorting to picking up the power drill because they just want the job done without fuss – they’re fed up of waiting for their other halves to fix things."