Gender inequality still plagues the average Irish household, the Equality Authority said today.
A new study shows the average woman spends more time doing unpaid work, like cleaning and caring, than the average man.
However, men spend more time on paid work than women, according to the report by The Equality Authority and the Economic and Social Research Institute.
Niall Crowley, chief executive officer of the Equality Authority, said the findings reveal women to be at a significant disadvantage.
“Women continue to do the bulk of the unpaid work, men do most of the paid work in Ireland,” he said.
Mr Crowley called for more flexible working conditions for men so that they could spend more time doing unpaid work at home.
“Paternity leave and paid parental leave are required to enhance the role of men in caring and household work,” he said.
“The take up by men of flexible working arrangements needs to be promoted and supported, in particular in male dominated workplaces.”
The Equality Authority said the report, Gender Inequalities in Time Use - The Distribution of Caring, Housework and Employment among Women and Men in Ireland, was a groundbreaking study.
It is based on time diaries from more than 1,000 men and women, aged 18 to 97, from the Irish National Time Use Survey 2005.