Table 2.

Mean Housework Hours per Week of Wives and Husbands and Their Average Combined Workload (Hours on Housework and Employment Combined): Japan 1994, 2000 and 2009

	1994	2000	2009
Housework Hoursa
Wives’ hours per week	33*	29	27*
Husbands’ hours per week	2*	3	3*
Husbands’ share (%)	7*	9	12*
% of husbands with no housework	42*	30	22*
Combined Workloadb
All couples
Wives’ hours per week	54*	49	47*
Husbands’ hours per week	53*	52	53
Husbands’ share (%)	51*	53	54*
Dual-earner couples only
Wives’ hours per week	66*	59	57*
Husbands’ hours per week	54*	52	54*
Husbands’ share (%)	45*	48	49*

Notes: Mean hours and percentages are weighted for 2000 and 2009, but unweighted for 1994.

^aComputed by adding the time devoted to cleaning house, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning after meals, and grocery shopping. Housework hours exclude time spent on childcare.

^bComputed by adding hours spent on housework and on employment.

Statistical significance of change over time in spouses’ housework hours and combined workload is estimated using the OLS or logistic regression models where time is the only predictor variable. Year 2000 is the reference category, and a “*” indicates significance at 5-percent level.