5th August, 2009

Men in the United Kingdom, Scandanavian countries and the United States are more likely to do the household chores than Australian men, making them more attractive as potential husbands, according to an Oxford Univeristy study.

Dr Almudena Sevilla-Sanz, the study’s author, constructed an ‘egalitarian index’ for 12 developed countries based on answers to questions about gender, housework and childcare responsibilities.

Norway and Sweden topped the index followed by the UK, US, Japan, Germany and Austria. Australia was ranked last.

The study found that women living in countries which ranked low were less likely to be living with men than in higher ranked countries. It suggests men and women are more likely to want a live-in relationship with the opposite sex if they think their partner will do a share of the housework and childcare duties.

The study was based on questionnaires completed by 13,500 men and women aged between 20 and 45 from each of the 12 countries.

- DAVID ADAMS

~ www.ox.ac.uk.