'Blue jobs' are men's, 'pink' women's, when it comes to household chores

London, Mar 11 (ANI): Mowing the lawn, washing up after dinner and cleaning windows are some of the domestic chores that women believe should be carried out by the man of the house, says a survey of 5,000 couples.

The "blue jobs" have emerged in a list of household tasks that women say are the responsibility of men.

Retrieving items from the loft, investigating strange noises in the night, removing lids from jam jars and unblocking toilets are also some of the jobs left for men to do.

As far as women are concerned, they tend to do "pink jobs" such as remembering birthdays, packing school lunches and replacing toilet rolls when they run out, say men who were part of the study, commissioned by TheBabyWebsite.com.

Other jobs carried out by men include going to the tip, setting up the video or DVD recorder, and changing a light bulb. Women, meanwhile, shop for presents, book babysitters and attend children's parties.

"The results of this survey are broadly consistent with other research on divisions of labour that show the main everyday responsibilities of feeding, cleaning, caring for and thinking ahead for children are still carried out more by mothers than fathers, even in households where both parents are in paid work," The Scotsman quoted Professor Lynn Jamieson, head of sociology at Edinburgh University, as saying.

"At the same time, most parents would say mums and dads should both be actively involved with and emotionally there for their children, although this is not usually what is happening in practice," the expert added.

Kathryn Crawford, a director of TheBabyWebsite.com, said: "There is a very clear divide between the chores men and women will do, but at least it shows that both sexes are responsible for the running of the household.

"The delegation of these chores has nothing to do with our ability to do various tasks. It's just that men tend to be better at more hands-on chores, and women are more organised and methodical in their approach to running the house.

"There is definitely a gender gap - a huge number of men always take the Christmas tree down from the loft. I think it's very much a case of we learn to parent from our own parents, so we subconsciously assume their gender roles - that's maybe why things don't seem to have changed down the years." (ANI)