59pct men 'go deaf' when asked to do chores

London, July 20 (ANI): An astonishing 59 per cent men pretend not to hear when their wives or girlfriends ask them to muck in with household chores, a new survey has revealed.

The survey by cleaning company Spontex showed men would try every trick to avoid scrubbing floors or washing dishes and one third of them admitted to never having cleaned a toilet in their life.

Excuses for avoiding housework include pretending to be ill, having some extra work to do for the office, making an important - and very long - phone call, or simply running for the door when the cleaning products come out of the cupboard.

More than seven in ten use flattery to get out of cleaning, telling their partner they are better at the task than they are and 39 per cent try to hide.

When asked whether they think they do their fair share around the home and the vast majority lie about their dismal contribution.

"Clearly we have a long way to go to achieve gender equality in the home but we should recognise there has been progress," the Telegraph quoted Scott Coltrane, a sociology professor, as saying.

"I don't buy the idea that men avoid housework because they are no good at it. Incompetence is an excuse, not an explanation.

"The truth is that men probably find housework as boring as women do. Chores are, well, a chore. The interesting fact coming out is not that men avoid housework, but that so many brag about doing any at all," Coltrane added.

The majority are happy to lie about how much housework they do. When asked about their attitude toward nine domestic tasks, they claim to do most of them without grumbling.

48 per cent of men claim to do the laundry without kicking up - but 69 per cent of their partners say they are lying. (ANI)