Last week yet another report was released showing that many Australians feel under time pressure. Race Against Time, produced by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, ticked all the usual boxes, showing everyone running around chasing their tails due to increased work hours and highlighting women's concerns about unequal contributions to childcare and housework.

The spin was remarkable. ''With many already time squeezed, women are less satisfied than men with their partner's contribution towards childcare and housework,'' the report said. But it turned out only 35 per cent of women were not satisfied with dad's contribution to childcare. Get that? It means most women, two-thirds, were happy. Given the bad press men constantly receive over this issue, why isn't that the story?

Voice of reason ... ANU economist Bob Gregory. Credit:Gabriele Charotte

Women were asked how they felt about the contribution of partners to unpaid work, but naturally there was no mention of whether men felt it was fair that they do roughly three times the paid work of their partners. The report quotes the number of hours people spend commuting - an average of nearly six hours a week in Sydney and five in Melbourne - but there was no attempt to find out whether men, the group more likely to put in these long commutes, think this is a great deal.

So it goes on. The report highlights how men and women spend their time: ''At all ages, women spend more time each day doing housework and other domestic activities while men spend more time on recreation and leisure.'' How's that for a jab at slothful, self-indulgent men? Yet the report's table on time use shows that the extra time women put into childcare and other domestic chores is matched by the time men spend commuting and on other employment-related activities.