Women in France still do the bulk of the housework and most men wouldn’t know a duster if it tickled them on the nose, a new study shows.

French women spend two and a half times as much time as men looking after their children, according to research on how couples divide their time carried out by Credoc for the French Family Benefits Fund, la CAF.

And when it comes to household chores, women also do the lion’s share, the study said. And then they do a second lion’s share while they’re waiting.

Asked what jobs they had done the previous week, the differences between men and women were striking. In fact, it’s maybe a surprise that women aren’t striking, given these statistics.

Did you do the cleaning? Yes, say 93% of women compared to 40% of men.

What about the ironing? 73% of women answered in the affirmative while just 9% of men had let off some steam on their clothes.

A whopping 93% of women did some cooking, while half of all men gave food-making duties a wide berth.

Surely men at least did most of the grocery shopping? Not so. 85% of women ensured the cupboards were stocked while just 64% of men hit the stores.

Men who had grown up with a single mother were more likely to share household chores, the study found.

Once children arrived on the scene, women assumed more responsibility for housekeeping than before.

Couples were also more likely to pool their resources once they had children. Half of the couples without children had joint accounts, compared to 85% of the respondents with two children.

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