Better communication might help prevent conflict caused by an uneven distribution of household chores between men and women, the John Tung Foundation said yesterday.
Last year, women took on most of the household responsibilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, the foundation said, citing an article titled “A multicountry perspective on gender differences in time use during COVID-19” in the March edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
The study, which surveyed more than 31,000 people in the US, Brazil, Canada, Denmark and Spain, found that women spent more time than men on housework and childcare, and that the more time women spent on household chores, the less happy they reported being, the foundation said.
Societal expectations about gender roles — specifically the idea that women should perform household tasks — might be a major factor leading to an uneven distribution of household duties and negative effects that such patterns have on women’s happiness, said Yeh Ya-hsing (葉雅馨), director of the foundation’s Mental Health Center.
Women should clearly communicate their expectation that chores be divided, Yeh said, adding that keeping negative feelings inside might make the situation worse.
People can adjust the housework routine by taking breaks, taking a 15-minute walk, having a cup of tea or playing music while cleaning, she said.
Not all of the housework needs to be done right away, she said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, women might ask why they are the only ones doing housework when both partners are working at home, Taiwan Counseling Psychologist Union member Hu Yen-wei (胡延薇) said.
However, men who do housework might receive criticism for not doing tasks well or fast enough as a result of a lack of familiarity with the chores, Hu said.
Chores can be made more interesting by having mothers imagine themselves as senior employees of a company who have been tasked with training other workers, in this case their husbands or children, she said.
Although the pandemic has changed people’s lives and the way they work, it has also increased the amount of time family members spend together, and tested relationships between married couples and family members, she said.
People could try to take advantage of the global situation to work on improving bonds and feelings of happiness in their families, she said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS