Has feminism failed? Eight out of ten married women STILL do more housework than their husbands



Just one in 10 married men do an equal amount of chores in the home



Number of 'house husbands' in Britain has trebled over the last 15 years



With or without a university degree, men continue to earn more than women

Study carried out by Institute for Public Policy Research



Eight out of 10 women say they still do more housework than their husbands

Feminism has failed working class women by focussing too much on gender equality in high profile roles, according to new research.

Eight out of 10 married women still do more housework than their husbands, according to the research by think-tank Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), while just one in 10 married men do an equal amount and 13 per cent do more.



Despite this, the number of 'house husbands' in Britain trebled over the last 15 years, with 62,000 men staying at home to care for their family and remaining economically inactive.

While the average gap between the earnings of men and women has narrowed in the last 50 years, differences between professional and unskilled women are significantly higher than those between men, a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found.

With or without a university degree, men continue to earn more than their female counterparts.

But researchers found that women with a degree born in 1958 earned nearly three times as much as women in unskilled jobs born in the same year - compared to a difference of less than half between men in the same groups.

Dalia Ben-Galim, IPPR associate director, said: 'While feminism has delivered for some professional women, other women have been left behind.

'Many of the advances for women at the top have masked inequality at the bottom.

'The "break-the-glass-ceiling" approach that simply promotes "women in the boardroom" has not been as successful in changing family-friendly working culture or providing opportunities for other women to advance.

'Gender still has a strong independent impact on women's earnings prospects - but class, education and occupational backgrounds are stronger determinants of a woman's progression and earnings prospects.

Motherhood was also a key factor, with women who had children earlier seeing their earnings prospects decrease compared to those who postponed forming a family, the study found.

For men the reverse was true, as fathers enjoyed a 'fatherhood pay bonus' which saw them earn more than men without children.

The IPPR called for a more progressive parental leave system, more affordable and accessible childcare and better paid part-time jobs to address these issues.

It also warned against the 'decoy effect' of focussing on women in high profile positions, and said the breaking down of stereotypes should be the priority.