Children and Housework

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide information about the extent to which children participate in housework. Mothers in 105 two-parent, two-child families were interviewed. Families were randomly selected from school board records and included 115 children who were 6 through 17 years of age. Data were recorded on two 24-hour time charts. The majority of the children (88%) participated in at least one of the selected household tasks. Children participated most often in housecleaning and food preparation. The child's age, the child's sex, and the employment of the mother significantly affected the amount of time spent on housework.