Mums say yes to cleaners

The poll of 338 working mums, sponsored by domestic housekeeping franchise business Bright & Beautiful, showed the main reason women want a cleaner is because it would make their lives much easier.

Some 53% said this was the reason they would employ a cleaner. Other reasons given were helping balance work and domestic duties, chosen by 7%; 10% said it would mean they could spend more time with their family and 4% said it would mean fewer disagreements with their partner.

Just 8% said they prefer to do the cleaning themselves while 2% admitted to loving doing housework. Sixteen per cent said that they loved the idea of hiring a cleaning company, but couldn’t afford it.

One mum said: “I already do [employ a cleaner] and it makes a massive difference- unless you love housework, it makes sense to be able to spend time with your partner in the evening and kids in the day.” Another added: “I actually don’t mind cleaning but if someone else could go the bulk of it, my life would be SO much easier!!”

A recent survey by energy supplier Npower showed women are spending approximately 18 hours a week, or 2.6 a day, on housework including cleaning, grocery shopping and cooking.

That is down from 44 hours in the 1960s in part due to the number of appliances on the market which speed the cleaning process up and to the number of women now working. Men continue to do significantly less housework than women. workingmums.co.uk annual survey showed that only 27% of working mums said they split childcare and housework equally with their partners, even though 18% earned more than their partners.

Rachel Ray, Managing Director of Bright & Beautiful, an award-winning business model based around a franchise system that trains women across the UK to manage a team of specialist housekeepers, says: “Today, as more and more women work longer hours, there is an increase in the amount of families needing the extra help with domestic chores.

Cultural shifts in the UK and the effects of the recession have meant more women going back to work, longer working days, so help around the home is now far more of a necessity than a luxury. The overwhelming answer from respondents demonstrates that ‘it would make their lives so much easier’ if they could afford it.

“We want to understand if people really can’t afford it or whether perception of having a cleaning service is more expensive than it really is. We are confident that our unique housekeeping services provide the best value in the market place. We are really interested in finding out more about why working women still do the majority of the housework.

Researchers at the University of Ulster recently found that women spend three times as long on domestic chores, such as cooking, cleaning and washing, as their husbands or partners. We want to know why women still take more responsibility for this rather than men therefore making their lives more stressful.”

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