Whose responsibility is it to keep the marital home tidy? With men's and women's roles constantly changing, it seems the never-ending battle over whose turn it is to do the washing-up just keeps getting more complicated.

But although women are increasingly working fulltime outside the home, if a new survey is to be believed, they are also still putting the hours in tackling household chores.

Results of the survey, carried out in east China's Zhejiang Province by the provincial Bureau of Statistics, show women do about two hours-a-day more housework than their husbands.

While men in the province spend two hours and 52 minutes doing housework everyday, women average four hours and 42 minutes.

At the office the story is a bit different. On average, men were found to work about two hours-a-day more than employed women.

But men also spent more time doing leisure activities, 4.3 hours everyday, than working women, who spent just 3.6 hours-a-day enjoying themselves.

About 1,830 citizens in Zhejiang Province, aged 20 to 65, were surveyed for the study.

Zhang Minjie, a sociologist at Zhejiang Industry and Commerce University who specializes in marriage and family studies, said he did not find the statistics surprising.

"It's Chinese tradition that the stress of taking care of the family tends to fall more on women, even as more and more women go out to work," Zhang told China Daily.

"It does not suggest an increasing disparity between men and women as men are doing more housework than they used to."

According to Zhang, the more educated the husband, the more likely he is to do a share of the chores.

"White-collar men are doing more and more housework and even doing more daily housework than their wives in the more developed areas of China," he added.

With improved living conditions and the growth of the housekeeping service industry, time spent doing household chores is likely to decrease.

Public opinion divided

However, public opinion remains divided on the "fair" division of jobs around the house.

"I think it would be fabulous to become a full-time housewife and say farewell to hard work," said 27-year-old Zhu Lan, who works at an advertising agency in Hangzhou.

"I want to have a baby and enjoy family life." Zhu also said she actually wants to do the majority of household chores after getting married.

However, Zhang Lan, a postgraduate student from Zhejiang University, said she would like to share household chores equally with her future husband, keeping her job even if her family became rich and there was no need for her to work.

Chen Jin, 35, an IT company manager in Hangzhou, said chores at home demand shared responsibilities.

But, he added, if a wife is at home most of the day while her husband is working, the household chores are more her responsibility.

(China Daily October 19, 2005)