Do your kids do as many chores as you did? The average 6-12 year old spends about 24 minutes a day helping out around the house - a 25% drop from 1981 - and probably an even steeper drop from your own childhood.
Blogging WSJ: On the Virtues of Making Your Children Do the Dishes
When we were kids we were expected to contribute to the household with daily chores like helping with dinner, setting the table, doing the dishes, taking out the trash, folding the laundry, sweeping the porch, etc. Our best friend (the baby of nine kids), on the other hand, got a free ride. She keeps a very tidy house today (more so than we do!), but are there longer term consequences when kids don't do chores?
A recent column in The Wall Street Journal discussed this idea. Sandra Hofferth, director of the Maryland Population Research Center at the University of Maryland found that not only are children doing less housework, parents are too as more families hire frequent or occasional housecleaners or are less stalwart about household cleanliness than earlier generations.
Some researchers suggest that instilling the value of housework into children may pay off later in life for them as there is a correlation between sharing housework and the success of marriages. Alice Rossi of the University of Massachusetts also found that adults who performed housework as children were much more likely to participate in volunteer and community work later in life.
You can read the whole article here. What do you think - is housework an important value to pass on to your kids?
(The awesome tea towel above is for sale by Showpony.)
Comments (6)
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I was an afterschool nanny for two boys (7 and 10). I had been asked to have them pick up toys, etc. before everyone gets home. Mom and Dad did not ask them to do this, ever.
Day 1:
Me: "OK guys, let's pickup a little before you go play."
7 y.o.: (with curled lip and scornful tone) "Why? I'm not a maid."
10 y.o.: (dramatic falling down on floor) "I'm sooooo tired. The maid comes tomorrow. Who cares if it's messy for her?"
When you, by your actions and words, lead kids to believe that housework is something people lower in status do, you are enforcing a class divison and instilling a sense of entitlement. It has ugly effects.
BTW, these were also little boys who had serious trouble completing tasks at school. They had not developed skills like planning, categorizing and breaking tasks up which are essential to doing work of any kind.
Do your kids, and their teachers, and you, and our entire society a huge favor- teach them how to work, how to take pride in their efforts, and how to enjoy the fruits of their labors.
view vjm's profile
well said vjm!
and don't pay your kids to do chores! do you get paid to clean your house? think about it!
view Enamorada's profile
I think housework is an important skill for all children to learn. Depending on what they do they might not always be able to afford a housekeeper and knowing how to do things yourself is a great way to save some $ when you are a broke student.
My own children do not do nearly as many chores as I did but that is partly because we only have 2 kids and I grew up with 7 siblings. However they still do more than the majority of their peers.
view teawithsteph's profile
among other things, it was always my job to set the table for dinner every night. my mom cooked and my dad did the dishes.
my complaint is that now that I am an adult with my own place I still set the table when I am at my parents' house. but, when my parents come to my house for dinner, I end up setting the table, cooking, and doing the dishes! it is like they are guests at my house, but I am part of the family at their place.
view lcg's profile
My husband had a nanny growing up.
His brothers wife and I are always complaining about how the guys don't know how to take care of themselves.
I've tried, but man do I ever resent how it just ends up being more work for me in the end.
view Angus's profile
Oh, man. I think this is so important.
From an early age, we've involved our 3 year old in picking up toys, throwing away garbage, etc. It's much easier (and faster) to just do it myself, but I don't want to blow up one day when she's 13, screaming about why she never helps around the house. (Flashbacks to my own childhood there.) Plus, it's a huge confidence booster for her.
When we visit my mom's house, she plays silly grandma games with my daughter and my daughter loves it. But when we visit my aunt, who is a retired educator, my aunt puts my daughter to work around the house and my daughter REALLY loves it. My aunt keeps her moving, and my daughter can't get enough.
For a while now I've been giving my daughter a spray bottle of water and letting her "wash" things at our house. It's always pretend and I end up having to clean up after her, so I'm trying to find ways now that she can actually help. For real.
She just started Montessori school this week and they're big on teaching practical life skills. After just a few days of school, she's been putting her shoes in the closet, carrying her dirty dishes to the sink, etc., without me having to ask at all. I'm thrilled and she's quite proud of herself.
Great topic, Carrie.
view pennycarnival's profile