Children and Chores: How Much?
A new study has identified an emerging domestic threat that could be responsible for making future marriages teeter and prompting a decline in volunteerism and empathy.
The study is about children and chores.
University of Maryland Professor Sandra Hofferth—who is an expert on how children use their time—reports that 6 to 12 year-olds now spend an average of only 24 minutes a day doing household chores. That’s a 12% drop from 1997, and a 25% skid since 1981.
The chore-defying dive reflects “important behavioral and values shifts that will affect lives for years to come,” says Dr. Hofferth.
Doing household chores as a child turns out to be a major predictor of whether an individual does volunteer or community work as an adult, according to sociologists, who note that housework is an important teaching tool. And when it comes to domestic bliss, the distribution of domestic duties—grounded in childhood chores—can make or break a marriage.
According to experts, children’s chores are declining in part because they’re spending more time on reading, studying, and other activities. But even their parental role models are doing less work around the house, hiring help instead or simply letting chores chill.
Within days of the news that chore times had dropped like the Dow, a new website called NannysCircle.com began promoting itself as a novel solution to motivating kids by making a “virtual” game of chores. Instead of nagging Junior to feed the dog, parents log on and send a virtual note, which their child retrieves from his virtual room. In real life, the child supposedly feeds the dog, then emails his parents that the task has been completed.
But success may come at the expense of another domestic chore: parent-child communication. “You see the appeal,” wrote a reporter about the website. “Parenting, a messy series of weary battles that never seem to lead anywhere, becomes something that can be checked off and filed. No back talk. Just hit ‘send.’”
Tell us what you think: Should children be responsible for doing more chores? Are chore-less children really responsible for failed marriages and fewer volunteers? As a responsible parent, would you turn over chore supervision to a computer?
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children & chores: how much?
I think everyone in today’s society is ‘too busy’ to focus on important issues like teaching our children about good work ethic. Along with the fact that our children are being expected to do more homework and more activities than that of former generations. This is causing we, as parents, to put important values like work ethic on the back burner. As a result we are seeing more and more ‘lazy kids’. I believe we parents need to place more importance in instilling a good work ethic in our kids in order to secure their own futures. I think more responsibility is in order for our children.
Kayla Robinson | 1 year, 4 months ago
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It seems to me that if children are engaged in a sport or doing homework rather than chores than they aren’t tending towards “laziness.” What is the difference between doing the dishes and doing your sums? Neither is something a child would do for fun and both are important. If a child trades household chores for schoolwork is he trading work ethic for work ethic?
The trouble comes, I would think, when children — when people — put off undesirable or important work for mindless, profitless exercises like watching television or surfing the internet.
Brooke | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Milton
I think chores are very important for our children. They need to learn that things don’t come for free. You have to work to get the desired things you want.
Chores will help teach them responsibility. Of course at that age, you don’t realize that your parents are teaching you valuable lessons.
Matthew | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Thank you!
Being a single mother who was once married to an irresponsible, lazy human being, I give my children quite a bit of responsibility. Nothing I find is too extreme and still less than what I had at their ages.
I have been told by a health care provide, a teacher and a vice principal (obviously I am active in their lives and close to the other adults that they interact with.) that some of these things are not the responsibility of my children! WHAT!
This article confirms my opinion on this matter. Thank you for putting it out there.
Brandylynn | 1 year, 4 months ago
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It's High Time!
I think it’s extremely important for children to have chores that must be completed first, before anything else happens. Many kids my son’s age (14) don’t really have any chores, mostly because they’re done by people outside the home. That to me is short-changing their values system, and makes many of them incapable as adults to “put in an honest day’s work.”
Margaret Virtue | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Failure to perform assigned tasks...
Failure to perform assigned tasks is an acceptable reason for dismissal from any company within the United States, as well it should be. One should have regular tasks at home, as well as work. I, myself, do the majority of the cooking, dishes, and do my fair share of the housework, and laundry. My children were expected to do their assigned tasks, first among them their studies and homework. Once those tasks were completed, they were also expected to do other chores around the home. My oldest graduated from college, got a job and got married, and finds her stunned by the total lack of commitment others show in the workplace. My second child is now a US Marine, and I know how he feels about those who shirk their duty. Our youngest is attending college locally and lives at home, and he is still expected to do homework and studying first and his chores second. Like both me and my wife, the task that needs to be done is done BEFORE “play” time begins.
James Allard | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Internet dependency
Children being responsible for doing more chores goes against everything they currently know these days since many working professional parents feel guilty about the lack of time they spend with their kids and let them be disrespectful and lazy, refusing to do chores and then the parents are hard pressed to enforce normal rules. Yes, I would assume that chore-fewer children might be responsible for the failures in their life.
As a parent I will admit that the chores have taken a back seat to the computer and I have to remind my kids to get off the computer and go outside and do their chores. Living in the city or suburbs limit outside chores kids can do.
In my time, I had to split wood, feed the horses, cattle, chickens, and stack the front porch with firewood before I got to eat. Most kids today have no idea what hard chores are!
Krstafer Pinkerton | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Where to place the blame?
A 25% difference really isn’t that huge when you take into account things that make chores easier nowadays like dishwashers and cleaning solutions that don’t require any elbow grease. The need and sense of entitlement for immediate gratification is a problem for our society, but I argue that chore-less children are not the cause, but merely another symptom.
As for turning over chore supervision to a computer… I would not do that completely. But if my child grows up to use the computer often, I will use it partially. I can see it now – she’s watching a show on her computer, then a little pop up note comes up – she clicks on it then my voice kindly reminds her to get off her tush and weed the garden. I don’t see anything wrong with using the tools that reach out to our children. But of course, I would be there to make sure she followed through.
I would like to see a study on how much homework kids have now in comparison to 1981. I am guessing they have a lot more than before! Life is a lot less physically demanding for our kids than before, but it is more demanding for them now in other ways.
Nicole | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Children and Chores: how much?
Being a child of the 50’s I don’t find there is more homework these days for school kids. I had to go to the library or other sources for information relative to my homework assignments. Even reading the newspaper to be able to respond to questions my teachers might ask us about what was going on in the world from day to day. I grew up in a small city (Fairfield) of Alabama. Both parents worked so the kids had to pitch in and help keep the house clean, the yard clear and look out for each other. My grandkids get on the computer copy and paste and have what few assignments given them done in minutes.Even taking the ACT with a calculator. Critical thinking and deductive reasoning are lost arts for most. That’s how they have so much time to do nothing. Their minds are busy so if their hands are not busy doing responsible things they will be busy doing irresponsible things (Alcohol, drugs, sex).I don’t like the fact that taking responsibility for one’s actions is no longer considered a moral obligation.
G'Ma Margie | 1 year, 4 months ago
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I agree
Children need chores – and early. I was shocked to visit a friend’s house and see it a total mess. There were 3 adults and no children and their house looked like a tornado had been through it. I know for a fact that her mom did most all of the cleaning for her, even her laundry, until she left home. I was responsible for my room, my clothes, and shared responsibility for the rest of the home with my siblings. My children at 2 and 4 know to wipe up their spills, put dirty laundry in the washer, and pick up their messes. It’s hard to encourage them all the time and stay positive, and we do slack sometimes, but I know it is important for their future. They NEED responsibility and accountability and it needs to be taught young. No matter your homework, you should still be responsible in some way for your surroundings and keeping them clean. Children need to learn to cook (or they will be fast food adults), clean, and take care of their stuff. They don’t learn it from watching mom do it – they learn by doing it WITH mom.
Jennifer | 1 year, 4 months ago
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