It's hard to take the article seriously when it starts with, "American men still don't pull their weight when it comes to housework and child care, but collectively they're not the slackers they used to be." This is yet another example of male bashing that is not correlated with reality.
Men as a group have never been slackers. Men have dedicated their lives to supporting their families and children, much to their own detriment. For example, 90-95% of workplace fatalities are men. And you can't compare hauling a 10-ton downed tree up a 30% slope with new ways to get underarm stains out of clothes. Many women have the *opportunity* and make the *choice* to spend more time at home due to the sacrifices that their husbands make.
Studies consistently show that when work performed in the labor market and at home are included, men perform as much if not more work than women. For example, the Michigan Institute for Social Research finds that women spend about 10 hours a week more than men on housework, but that men spend about 13 hours a week more than women in the labor market. This 3-hour difference is even higher when the greater commuting time of men is considered. (To be truthful, there are studies that don't find the above to be true. But in these studies, household chores typically performed by men are not included and/or they make incorrect assumptions about definitions - they assume that a "full-time" working woman spends as much time in the labor market as a "full-time" working man.)
I wonder how people would react if an article from the Associate Press started with, "American women still don't pull their weight when it comes to the job market, but collectively they're not the slackers they used to be." Or how about this. "Ladies. If you want your husbands to give you more sex, get off your bon-bon eating butts and start earning your share of the money." One thing is certain, if such an article appeared, the author and editor would be looking for new work.
