Working from home a ‘backwards step for women’, heightening division of labour

A woman who works from home while her partner is based in a office three days a week is speculating the remote working movement is a “backwards step for women”.

“My husband and I both worked from home when Covid hit and continued to do so,” she shared on Mumsnet.

“I am now in the office once a month but DH has to go in three days a week. We both work full time and both have demanding jobs.

READ MORE: David Beckham appears to send a clear message to Brooklyn

She said when her husband goes into the office he wakes up at 8am, showers and leaves.

“I am picking up most of the domestic tasks, shopping, cleaning, loading the dishwasher, cooking, running children around etc,” she shared, saying it “just seems to me that WFH has resulted in me taking on more at home whilst he gets to swan about”.

“That is a simplification but you get what I mean,” she adds.

She says she can’t help but think working from home is a “backwards step for women” – at least it feels that way in her case.

READ MORE: King’s heartfelt message for Father’s Day amid Harry estrangement

While she admits working from home is “very convenient” at times, it also means longer hours.

“I often start work at 6.30am, and more of the domestic tasks expected to fall on women’s shoulders. Is this just me or is this the experience of others?” she said.

“I could go into the office more if I wanted to – maybe I should?”

One Mumsnet followers commented that it may not be a gendered issue at all.

“I think it falls to whoever is at home, not my experience that it is the woman choosing to work from home more,” they said.

“If you can go into the office more why don’t you? And also you shouldn’t be working extra hours, why would you work for free?” they added.

Another described a different work from home experience.

“I find I do less domestically when I WFH because I spend my entire day working and barely get a minute for a cup of tea then I get blind to the housework by the end of the day whereas when I walk back in from the office I ‘see’ everything that needs doing,” they said.

“I don’t get how anyone has the opportunity to do all this household stuff if they’re actually doing their job in work time?” they continued.

The best bathroom cleaning hacks that actually work

“You need to stop just doing it all and leave it until after work and share it with DH in after work time,” they added.

“I think WFH benefits women because they do most of the house admin, that is different to saying they SHOULD do the brunt of the work,” another said.

READ MORE: A-Z guide to the best EOFY deals you need to be across

“But if they do, and that’s normal for many households, it means a better work/life balance for me,” they added.

Another commented: “Why are you getting up at 6.30am whilst he’s getting up at 8am? Unless you’re going to say he’s not home until 9pm he can get up to do chores.”

They explained their husband “cannot work from home but my job is more flexible but he’s still capable of emptying a dishwasher before he leaves in the morning”.

Another Mumsnet user explained having their husband work from home has “liberated me more than any thing else since we had children”.

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.

“He does 50/50 cooking, he hangs washing when he is on conference calls, he is here when the taxi comes home for our son,” she explained.

“It’s enabled me to get a job further away on 40 percent more salary. I’m still part time,” they stated.

“I get your point if it was all women working from home, or men working from home refused to unload the dishwasher on their break,” they added.

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.