Girls asked to do chores more than boys, magazine says
Once upon a time, the brunt of housework fell on the girls in the family. Some of us may have grown up in homes where boys were largely exempt from washing dishes or doing the laundry. While we would like to think we are raising our children more fairly nowadays, the results of a survey by a national children’s magazine are surprising.
Nearly three out of four girls report having household duties, compared to two-thirds of boys, according to a recent survey by Highlights magazine for children.
The magazine’s State of the Kid report surveyed kids nationwide about an array of topics related to growing up in 2009. When asked if they have chores to do in their homes, a majority of kids say that they do (71.9%). However, significantly more girls (74.7%) reported having chores to do than boys (65.3%).
“We were surprised by this gender difference in responses,” says Highlights magazine’s Editor in Chief Christine French Clark. “But Highlights receives and responds to more than 60,000 letters and e-mails from kids every year, and one of the things we know they often worry about is sibling conflict and fairness.”
Chore results were the largest gender difference of any of the questions on the 10-question national survey. Do you make a point to have an equitable division of labor in amongst your children? Or do your daughters end up with more household responsibilities? Why does this still happen?
Aisha covered education and breaking news for nearly ten years before joining the Lifestyle staff where she writes a "Dirty Laundry" parenting column. She is the home and family editor and wastes too much time on Facebook and political blogs. 
My mom said I had to do chores instead of my brother because “he will have a wife to do that for him.”
My mom didn’t want the whole family thing, but went ahead with it anyway. Too bad for her kids.
My mother was a single parent, and I was the oldest of three younger brothers. Me, being a girl. I did most of the chores by choice because I wanted my mother to be in a pleasant mood when she came home from work, and also because I knew how to do the chores right. My brothers would do the chores in a not so neat manner. Just leaving more work later so it was just easier for me to do it all. But now that I have left the house my mother is having problems getting the boys to help at all. I think I have enabled lazy brothers! Yikes!