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Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2021: Part 1 People and Society

Life at Home

65%

of women, living with a partner of the opposite-sex, said they are mainly responsible for household chores compared to 38% of men who said their partner takes most responsibility

‘Life at Home’ is a Frontier Publication which is based on the information collected from the first online Pulse Survey of the CSO ‘Take Part’ campaign. This report includes insights into the division of household tasks in couples; the experiences of those living alone, lone parents and those house sharing; and the relationship between parents and adult children who live together.

The results in this report reflect only the responses of those who completed the Pulse Survey questionnaire. While results are benchmarked to Irish population totals, the findings cannot be generalised to the entire Irish population, as the people who answered the questionnaire were not chosen at random from the population. Even with this caveat however, this report provides a valuable insight into life at home in Ireland.

Opposite-Sex and Same-Sex Couples

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The ‘Life at Home’ Pulse Survey asked people if they live with a spouse or a partner. Those respondents who answered ‘Yes’ are classified as being in a couple for this report. They were asked questions about who in the couple is responsible for organising and taking care of household tasks and chores, responsible for major decision making and their satisfaction around these issues.

Those living with a same-sex partner were more likely to report a balanced division of responsibility for organising and taking care of household chores, home and garden maintenance, grocery shopping, meal planning and preparation , household health related issues and socialising, while respondents in an opposite-sex relationship were more likely to report a balanced division of responsibility for financial decisions related to household savings, investment and borrowing and for the setting-up or renewing of household utilities.

X-axis label	Opposite sex	Same sex
Household chores	42	51
Financial decisions	62	54
Home and garden maintanence	30	43
Groceries and meals	35	41
Household health	53	67
Utilities	24	21
Socialising	59	67

51%

of respondents living with a same-sex partner reported a balanced division of household chores

42%

of respondents living with an opposite-sex partner reported a balanced division of household chores

X-axis label	High	Medium	Low
Opposite Sex - No child 18 and under	46	36	18
Same Sex - No child 18 and under	40	41	19
Opposite Sex - Have child 18 and under	30	40	30
Same Sex - Have child 18 and under	24	45	31

Opposite-Sex Couples

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Female respondents were very likely to say they have the main responsibility for organising and taking care of household chores at 65%, while 38% of men said their partner takes the most responsibility. This shows different perceptions by men and women over who carries out these chores.

65%

of women said they are mostly responsible for household chores compared to 9% men

65%

of men said they are mostly responsible for home and garden maintenance compared to 15% women

X-axis label	Household Chores: Female Perception	Household Chores: Male Perception	Financial decisions: Female Perception	Financial decisions: Male Perception	Home and garden maintenance: Female Perception	Home and garden maintenance: Male Perception	Providing discipline to children: Female Perception	Providing discipline to children: Male Perception
Mainly female responsibility	65	38	26	7	15	6	37	12
Balanced responsibilities	31	53	62	62	31	29	62	80
Mainly male responsibility	4	9	12	31	54	65	1	8

Respondents were more likely to report disagreements about household chores than about financial decisions and female respondents are slightly more likely to report having disagreements than men.

X-axis label	Household chores	Financial decision
No child 18 and under Female	36	18
Have child 18 and under Female	54	30
No child 18 and under Male	36	19
Have child 18 and under Male	47	27

Link to Publication: Pulse Survey: Life at Home 2021: Couples

Link to Publication: Pulse Survey: Life at Home 2021: Snapshot of Results

Respondents Living Alone, Lone Parents and House Sharing

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Respondents who live alone, are lone parents or who share rented accommodation with non-family members were asked a series of questions about their lives and their attitudes to their living arrangements.

39%

of respondents living alone aged 46-55 and 56-65 often under financial pressure compared with 22% of those of aged over 65 years

92%

of respondents who live on their own said they feel safe and secure in their home

X-axis label	Live alone
Enjoys independence	98
Feels safe and secure in own home	92
Enjoys own company	87
Happy living alone	86
Someone to count on if they have a serious personal problem	83
Can get practical help if needed	77
Would prefer to live with others	34
Often under financial pressure	30
Feels lonely all or most of the time	17

48%

of Lone parents often experience judgemental attitudes or exclusion

41%

of lone parents said they feel lonely all or most of the time, compared with 17% of those who live alone and 44% house sharing

X-axis label	Lone parent
Can get practical help if needed	71
Feels lonely all or most of the time	41
Someone to count on if they have a serious personal problem	74
Has access to suitable childcare	53
Often experiences judgemental attitudes/exclusion	48
Often under financial pressure	68
Someone to help provide structure/discipline for children	40
Someone to help provide emotional support for child(ren)	48
Someone to help provide educational support for child(ren)	37

63%

of female respondents in all female household share enjoy the company of housemates

86%

of male respondents in all male house share enjoy the company of housemates

X-axis label	House sharing
Believe that will they will never own their own home	76
Enjoys the company of others in the dwelling	71
Housemate to count on if they have a serious personal problem	52
Does not have enough privacy	51
Feels lonely all or most of the time	44

76%

of respondents who share rented accommodation with unrelated housemates feel they will never be in a position to own their own place

Adult Respondent Living with Parents and Respondents Living with Adult Children

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Respondents living with one or both parents, but not with a spouse or partner, were asked questions about their situation. Similarly, parents living with one or more adult children, but not with children under 18, were also asked how they feel about their circumstances.

X-axis label	Adults living with parent(s)	Living with Adult Children
Enjoy living with them	57	87
Would prefer to live separately	88	50
Would miss them if we lived apart	62	73

52%

of respondents living with parent(s) said their parent(s) will not treat them like an adult until they move out.

62%

of full-time employed respondents living with parent(s), do so mostly for financial reasons

X-axis label	Disimproved	Not changed	Improved
Adult with Mother	16	55	29
Adult with Father	17	58	25
Adult with Single Parent	27	54	19
Parent with Adult Child	8	62	30

22%

of respondents that have moved back with both parents since offset of COVID-19 crisis said relationship with their father has improved, 21% disimproved

31%

of respondents that have moved back with both parents since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis said relationship with their mother had improved, 16% disimproved

X-axis label	Respondents living with Both Parents	Female respondents living with spouse/partner and adult child(ren)	Male respondents living with spouse/partner and adult child(ren)
Mostly mother	44	20	35
Mostly father	22	19	5
Father and mother about equally	35	60	59