Featured Post from Aston University

Podcast: Research into household chores reveals fascinating home truths

Apr 19, 2023

4 min

Dr Emily Christopher


  • The notion of ‘women’s work’ still deeply embedded in today’s society
  • Men’s choice of housework centred around machinery and perceived physical strength
  • Some household tasks have ‘shifted’ over the years


A fascinating study by an academic at Aston University has revealed that women still do certain traditional tasks within the home.


The research by Dr Emily Christopher, a lecturer in sociology and policy, found that ‘woman-type’ tasks often involve multi-tasking while men’s roles often include solo duties such as mowing the lawn.


Dr Christopher, whose research focuses on the reproduction of gender inequalities in paid and unpaid work, spoke about her study in the latest episode of the 'Society matters' podcast series, presented by journalist Steve Dyson.


S4E8: Did you iron my shirt? Why household work - and who does it - matters



The episode is sub-titled 'Did you iron my shirt? Why household work, and who does it, matters'.


Dr Christopher explained that men are doing much more household work than they did 50 years ago, and that there was “general agreement” among the couples she interviewed that household work should be shared.


The lecturer, who invited couples to assign ‘task cards’ during interviews in their homes, said past research found that women still perform the ‘lion’s share’ of household work.


This, she said, followed on from the “age old idea” of women being more caring and nurturing which was “deeply embedded in the way society thinks”.


While some tasks were still more likely to be done by women, some had shifted over time.


Tasks still “overwhelmingly gendered” today include women remembering birthdays, organising presents, and remembering whether a child needs PE kit or money for a cake sale, all the cognitive labour of household management.


She said: “The problem is it’s invisible, so it isn’t recognised as work.”


Dr Christopher said that men tend to do the ironing if they find it “enjoyable”, often while listening to football or music, or if they have “particular standards”, such as creases in their sleeves.


However, some women choose ironing as a “form of protest”, doing their own and their children’s clothes but refusing to iron men’s shirts.


Dr Christopher pointed out that some other tasks traditionally seen as women’s, which had ‘shifted’, included cooking. She said: “Men are more likely to do this now, arguably this might be because they are less likely to be seen as less masculine for doing so, this helped by the rise of celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver.”


Her research also revealed that men are more likely to wash up and stack the dishwasher but, like ironing, men doing these tasks was often driven by standards such as liking them stacked a particular way.


They are also more likely to hoover than to clean, which fell mostly to women, with Dr Christopher suggesting: “I wonder whether sometimes this is something to do with the fact that hoovering involves technology and machinery, so it conceptualises more as a masculine form of housework.”


Similarly, Dr Christopher said men are more likely to do outside jobs such as DIY, washing the car and mowing the lawn, with the emphasis again on physical strength.


Significantly, tasks which men are more likely to be responsible for, such as DIY, are less likely to “interfere” with paid work, whereas those done by women often involve a reduction in their hours with “very wide implications” such as a gender pay gap, restrictions in career progression, and restricted access to pensions in later life.


As a result, she said the state needs to do more, particularly around parental leave and the lack of affordable childcare provision.


Dr Christopher said: “If you take maternity leave, it’s 12 months maximum in comparison to one or two weeks’ paternity leave, so straight away we are sending a message about who’s the natural carer. Parental leave needs to change to challenge this reinforcing of gender roles.”


She added that childcare provision needs to be seen as integral to the way society and the economy works, so needs funding.


Increasingly, Dr Christopher said couples are relying on their parents for help with childcare, and “interestingly, it tends to be the grandmothers who take on this work”.


Individuals wanting to put a monetary value on household work can complete the Office for National Statistics’ domestic labour calculator, although she said it was a crude measure and only gives a rough idea.


“Using this measure, my household work, on top of a full-time job at Aston University, is worth £18,000 a year,” she said.


Listen to all episodes of the 'Society matters' podcast

Connect with:
Dr Emily Christopher

Dr Emily Christopher

Lecturer, Sociology and Policy

Dr Christopher's research has explored the ways in which UK state policy is mediated through workplace policies and cultures.

Gender Divisions and the Relation Between Paid and Unpaid WorkSociologies of the Family, Relationality and KinshipMen and MasculinitiesVisual Methodologies

You might also like...

Check out some other posts from Aston University

3 min

First AI-powered Smart Care Home system to improve quality of residential care

Partnership between Lee Mount Healthcare and Aston University will develop and integrate a bespoke AI system into a care home setting to elevate the quality of care for residents By automating administrative tasks and monitoring health metrics in real time, the smart system will support decision making and empower care workers to focus more on people The project will position Lee Mount Healthcare as a pioneer of AI in the care sector and opening the door for more care homes to embrace technology. Aston University is partnering with dementia care provider Lee Mount Healthcare to create the first ‘Smart Care Home’ system incorporating artificial intelligence. The project will use machine learning to develop an intelligent system that can automate routine tasks and compliance reporting. It will also draw on multiple sources of resident data – including health metrics, care needs and personal preferences – to inform high-quality care decisions, create individualised care plans and provide easy access to updates for residents’ next of kin. There are nearly 17,000 care homes in the UK looking after just under half a million residents, and these numbers are expected to rise in the next two decades. Over half of social care providers still retain manual and paper-based approaches to care management, offering significant opportunity to harness the benefits of AI to enhance efficiency and care quality. The Smart Care Home system will allow for better care to be provided at lower cost, freeing up staff from administrative tasks so they can spend more time with residents. Manjinder Boo Dhiman, director of Lee Mount Healthcare, said: “As a company, we’ve always focused on innovation and breaking barriers, and this KTP builds on many years of progress towards digitisation. We hope by taking the next step into AI, we’ll also help to improve the image of the care sector and overcome stereotypes, to show that we are forward thinking and can attract the best talent.” Dr Roberto Alamino, lecturer in Applied AI & Robotics with the School of Computer Science and Digital Technologies at Aston University said: “The challenges of this KTP are both technical and human in nature. For practical applications of machine learning, it’s important to establish a common language between us as researchers and the users of the technology we are developing. We need to fully understand the problems they face so we can find feasible, practical solutions. For specialist AI expertise to develop the smart system, LMH is partnering with the Aston Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Application (ACAIRA) at Aston University, of which Dr Alamino is a member. ACAIRA is recognised internationally for high-quality research and teaching in computer science and artificial intelligence (AI) and is part of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The Centre’s aim is to develop AI-based solutions to address critical social, health, and environmental challenges, delivering transformational change with industry partners at regional, national and international levels. The project is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership. (KTP). Funded by Innovate UK, KTPs are collaborations between a business, a university and a highly qualified research associate. The UK-wide programme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills. Aston University is a sector leading KTP provider, ranked first for project quality, and joint first for the volume of active projects. For more information on the KTP visit the webpage.

3 min

Aston University-led report exposes persistent barriers for Black professionals in the UK television industry

L to R: Professor Helen Wood, Annika Allen and Nadia Afiari (Image: Simon Roberts Photography) Aston University’s Professor Helen Wood led the research for Black Leaders in TV, a company championing Black TV professionals Black in Focus is the first report of its kind and highlights the prevalence, with 92% of respondents reporting prejudicial or discriminatory experiences Recommendations for improvements include mid-career support, changing how Black stories are commissioned and tackling racism and bullying. Black television professionals in the UK’s television industry continue to face persistent barriers to career progression, with progress towards equity and inclusion very slow, according to new research led by Aston University academics. The report, Black in Focus, was produced in partnership with Black Leaders in TV, a company set up to champion Black professionals in the UK television and content creation industry, committed to bridging the representation gap and creating a more inclusive and innovative industry. The research group was led by Professor Helen Wood, a professor of media and cultural studies at Aston University. It also included Aston University’s Dr Killian Mullen and Dr Priya Sharma, alongside Dr Jack Newsinger, associate professor in cultural industries and media at the University of Nottingham. The researchers surveyed 164 Black mid-career television professionals to learn about their experiences. While entry-level diversity efforts have sparked positive change, the researchers say that respondents generally see this as performative, with little genuine progress at mid and senior levels. Of those surveyed, 92% reported experienced microaggressions at work, defined as subtle, often unintentional, comments or actions that express prejudice or discrimination towards them, such as being mistaken for a taxi driver or colleagues continually mispronouncing a name. 80% stated that their careers in television have negatively impacted wellbeing. Almost three-quarters (74%) of respondents said they had been ignored or excluded at work One of the biggest problems highlighted is a persistent ‘club’ culture with career progression often based on informal networks and hires. 91% of the survey respondents reported having no friends or family in the industry, blocking wider access and opportunity. Many Black television professionals still report being labelled as ‘diversity hires’, which negatively impacts their confidence and feeling of belonging in the industry. Black-Caribbean respondents and those from working-class backgrounds report heightened feelings of exclusion. Another major problem found by the report is in programme commissioning, with Black stories often viewed as commercially risky, leading to missed opportunities for richer, more authentic storytelling. The recommendations for improvement are grouped into four categories - breaking the mid-career bottleneck, commission, diversity initiatives, and racism, bullying and inclusion failures. To help with career bottlenecks, the authors’ suggestions include developing a national fellowship scheme to offer structured leadership training, shadowing, and commissioning exposure for Black professionals, setting up a centralised database for Black talent and supporting Black creatives though industry showcases. The television industry could tackle the problems with commissioning for example by incentivising Black-led narratives and requiring commissioning teams to complete anti-bias training. Diversity initiatives should move away from entry-level programmes towards structural change. This includes moving away from informal, network-based recruitment to structured, clear processes, and formalising promotion pathways. The television industry can tackle racism and bullying through zero-tolerance harassment policies, independent reporting mechanisms and sanctions, inclusive leadership training and developing mental health resources specifically tailored to Black professionals. Professor Wood said: “We can hear the voices of frustration in this survey and the data is clear about the problems. It’s time for the industry to use this evidence to take the next steps to deliver real, systemic change.” Black Leaders in TV founders Nadia Afiari and Annika Allen Gray said: “The findings make clear that, for UK television to truly reflect its diverse audiences and unlock creative innovation, the industry must move beyond surface-level diversity efforts. There needs to be support in place for Black professionals, greater transparency in recruitment and progression, and a fundamental shift towards inclusive, equitable workplace cultures.” Visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-07/Black_in_Focus_report.pdf to read Black in Focus in full.

3 min

Aston University research: Parents should encourage structure and independence around food to support children’s healthy eating

Dr Katie Edwards studied the feeding practices of parents of children with ‘avid’ eating traits, which can lead to obesity Focusing on health or deciding when it is time for a meal or snack helps parents to use supportive feeding practices. Supportive feeding practices could include involving children in decisions about food, or sitting together for mealtimes New research from Aston University has shone a light on the best ways for parents to encourage healthy eating in their children. The team of academics from Aston University’s School of Psychology, led by Professor Jacqueline Blissett, with Dr Katie Edwards as the lead researcher, looked at the meal- and snack-time practices of parents of children with ‘avid’ eating behaviours. ‘Avid’ eaters, who make up around 20% of children, particularly love food, are often hungry and will eat in response to food cues in the environment and their emotions, not just when they are hungry. They are the most susceptible to obesity and therefore encouraging a healthy, balanced diet is vital. Feeding children with avid eating behaviours can be challenging and the researchers wanted to understand how factors in everyday life, such as parent mood or eating situations, influence the feeding practices that parents use. Understanding this can help to create better support for families around meal and snack times and reduce the risk of children developing obesity. Dr Edwards says that the research shows that when parents prioritise children’s health or decide when it is time for a meal or snack, parents are more likely to use supportive feeding practices which create structure around meal or snack times or encourage children to be independent with their food choices. For example, parents could sit and eat with their children, choose what food is available for their children, or involve children in decisions about what food to eat. She adds that there are three main things that parents can do to help encourage healthy eating behaviour. The first is to focus on health, by providing nutritious and balanced meals. The second is to ensure a calm and positive atmosphere during eating occasions. The final recommendation is that parents should take the lead on setting meal- and snack-times, with a good structure being three meals and two snacks a day. These recommendations are linked to parents’ use of supportive feeding practices which are known to encourage children’s healthy eating. To carry out the research, the team recruited parents of children aged 3-5 with avid eating behaviour and asked them to download an app to their smartphones. The app sent four semi-random reminders per day for a 10-day period, asking them to complete a survey with information about mood and stress levels. Every time a child had a meal or a snack, or asked for food, parents completed another survey to give information about feeding practices (including those which give children structure, or independence, around food), mealtime goals (such as prioritising healthy eating), and information about the mealtime setting (such as the atmosphere). Previous research from this team at Aston University identified four main eating traits in children. As well as ‘avid’, the other traits, not studied here, are ‘typical’ eaters, who have no extreme behaviours, ‘avoidant’ eaters, who are extremely fussy, and ‘emotional’ eaters, who eat in response to emotions but do not necessarily enjoy food in the way that avid eaters do. Dr Edwards was also involved in the team’s research at Aston University that showed that parents’ eating behaviour influences that of their children. Dr Edwards said: “Given the challenges that parents may face and the risk of childhood obesity, we will use these findings to develop feeding support for families. Encouraging parents to use feeding practices which provide structure around meal and snack times, or promote children’s independence with food, could be helpful for supporting children’s healthy eating. Read the full paper in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-025-01768-x.

View all posts
Powered by