By many accounts, Italian men are some of the laziest in Europe when it comes to lending a hand at home.
According to the national association of house husbands, 70% of Italian men never cook, 90% have never, ever, ironed a shirt, 95% have never done a load of wash.
With the financial crisis hitting Italian households, that may change. Some 34% of Italian women have cut back on household help, a recent survey by Coesis announced. They’re also looking to husbands and family to start lending a hand, researchers noted.
It’s about time for men to step up and help out, says the house husband association.
“Women are really sick of it, they’re used to having to pay to get the help they might expect from a husband or partner,” said president Fiorenzo Bresciani. “If they can’t afford that, now’s the time to re-discuss who does what around the house. Men are definitely the ‘lazy sex,’ we want to show them that real men do help out.”
Born in 2002, the Tuscan-based association, which offers master classes in home management (“the science of ironing,” anyone?) now counts over 4,000 members.
I suspect the biggest challenge may be men over 50, who have never helped out and probably don’t see much reason to change that. A lot of younger Italian guys I know are great cooks and decent about taking care of la casa.
Does your Italian man help out around the house?
Photo courtesy Italian Household Association
Yes, well I’ve got a young, 30-yr-old Italian husband who started out helping quite a lot in the house but as the years have gone by, it has increasingly become a pain to nagg his to vaccuum and wash the floor or to have him clean the dishes after I cook dinner. I decided to start paying for a lady this year to save a bit of the hassle, so I am going against the trend. but money is tight so I still insist that he irons his own shirts! We get the lady to just do work that helps “the both of us” like floors and bathroom.
Irene
[...] for some families that has meant cutting back on expenses like the cleaning lady. Unfortunately, some studies show that the vast majority of Italian men don’t traditionally help (and have nev… – though the women of the house are certainly hoping that [...]
My house would be in shambles and I would be living on cereal if it weren’t for my Italian husband. He does most of the cleaning, and cooking. I handle laundering/ironing and the plants. I so got the long end of the stick!
Granted he’s young (mid-20s) and spent a few years living abroad, where he had to learn how to take care of himself very quickly. He hadn’t cooked/cleaned/washed once in his life before that. He was a quick learner though, as his parents (read, mother) instilled a no-nonsense, do it well mentality in him… he wont settle for substandard shortcuts!