House Proud Britain: Mums and Dads Spend 24 Hours a Week on Household Management

LONDON, February 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Parents spend an average of almost a day a week on household management, with a total of 23 hours and 45 minutes spent each on jobs including washing, cooking and childcare duties.

New research from Allianz Your Cover insurance found the top five time intensive chores those parents polled do each week are:

1. Babysitting/childcare (3 hours 53 minutes)
2. Cooking (3 hours 36 minutes)
3. Cleaning (2 hours 49 minutes)
4. Shopping (2 hours 27 minutes)
5. Ironing/washing (2 hours 19 minutes)

Additional other time-consuming activities include DIY, taking out the recycling and gardening. If parents were to pay staff to carry out their chores it would cost £231 a week. However Mums and Dads are only valuing their weekly worth at £143 a week underestimating their weekly contribution by £88. Despite being a nation of hardworking parents, a quarter (25%) admit feel they do not feel appreciated by their children.

Andy James of Allianz Your Cover Insurance said: "Many parents will be surprised how much time they are spending on managing their homes and what this is worth financially. For those also working, this means very little 'down time' is spent relaxing as they spend four hours a day managing their home and family life. Our research found if parents were given the opportunity to pass their least favourite chore onto someone else, a quarter (28%) of Mums and Dads would spend this extra time relaxing.

"To help busy families realise their true value we have created a Smartphone app which calculates how much certain chores are worth and which family member makes the biggest household contribution. Families will be able to solve the eternal question 'who does the most around the house' and see who most deserves a relaxing sit-down!"

Overworked and underappreciated?

The research shows that both men and women agree that women make the most valuable contribution to the smooth running of the home. Despite this, only 25% of women feel that their contribution is completely appreciated by their partner whereas a third (35%) of men feel that their partner completely appreciates their role at home.

Three quarters (72%) of women think their household contribution is worth more than their partner's, and value this contribution at £166. Only 41% of men think their contribution is worth the most financially valuing this at £120, significantly less than women.

Chilled out children

Both Mums and Dads agree that their children's contribution is worth only 5% to the upkeep of the house. Youngest children have been recognised as the most hardworking with a third (31%) of parents revealing they think their youngest's input is worth the most financially compared to just a fifth (22%) who voted for the middle or oldest child.

Parents confirmed that elder teenagers aged between 15 and 18 years-old were the least appreciative of their children as 32% of parents said this age group do not make them feel at all appreciated.  

Andy James continues: "Our poll found that ironing, washing and cleaning are the most disliked chores which Brits would happily pass onto someone else. We urge busy parents to hand over their dusters and get their children involved in some household jobs. We also found that nearly half (45%) of Mums and Dads have caused damage whilst carrying out chores.  We recommend that parents check their accidental cover on their home insurance policies as less than four in ten of our customers have opted for accidental damage cover which would ensure they are protected."

Allianz Your Cover Insurance, Allianz UK's flexible insurance offering enables home insurance policy holders to purchase different levels of accidental damage cover on both contents and buildings policies to ensure homeowners get the cover they need.

To find out the true value of the chores you do download Allianz Your Cover's household economy Smartphone App Chores Worth.

To find more out about Allianz Your Cover Insurance visit http://www.yourcoverinsurance.co.uk, follow us on Twitter @YourCoverUK or join us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/YourCoverUK

About Your Cover

Your Cover is a new breed of insurance product, offering cover that customers select to precisely match their own lifestyle and circumstances. Using an easy to use 'Quote and Buy' website, Your Cover makes it simple to design, obtain a quote and manage your insurance online.

The result of two years' research involving thousands of insurance buyers, Your Cover is a product from Allianz Insurance plc, which is a part of the global Allianz Group.

About Allianz

Allianz Insurance is one of the largest general insurers in the UK and part of the Allianz SE Group, the largest property and casualty insurer worldwide. Reassuringly in these uncertain financial times, in July 2011 the Standard and Poor's rating for Allianz Insurance was reaffirmed as AA-with a stable outlook and the rating of Allianz SE was also reaffirmed as AA with a stable outlook.

SOURCE Allianz Insurance plc