Some Gender Roles Changing

Since the pandemic (starting in 2020) with more people working from home, some traditional household roles of males and females are changing, and some are not. 

Additionally, an increasing number of males are working from home; with more females are working in the office 

"...post COVID-19 phenomenon: more women than men have been hauled back into the office as their jobs - disproportionately in education, retail or health care  - cannot be done properly (or at all) from home..." 

Lauren Shirreff, 2024 

Traditionally,  

"...Men would leave the home to go to work while women would manage the house - cleaning, cooking and attending to children..." 

Lauren Shirreff, 2024 

With more males working from home, one would expect men to do more of the domestic chores, including housework, childcare, etc; this is generally not happening. 

Men and women see things differently based on upbringing 

"...Men and women are brought up to see the world slightly differently, and that seems to change which affordance the environment around you invites.....while women might see a laundry pile as needing to be washed or a dishwasher having to be emptied. These associations are not so ingrained in the majority of men..." 

Tom McClelland as quoted by Lauren Shirreff, 2024 

This has been called the affordance theory. It is not what you are told to do but rather what you grow up seeing.  

"...men being heavily socialised for generations into thinking that housework is all a woman's responsibility while the man is meant to be the breadwinner.....While expectations might have changed around parenting, conventions around housework remain......because men haven't been asked to balance housework with paid work. Historically speaking, it isn't something they have learnt how to do the same way......this breadwinner pressure also makes men believe they always have to be 'on' or available to do paid work. Men are more likely to focus solely on work during work time, as they can fear being penalised if they are constantly available to be on calls or pick up tasks..." 

Heejung Chung as quoted by Lauren Shirreff, 2024