The cost of caring for the home

New research from Yorkshire Building Society reveals the hidden value of domestic chores in the UK stands at over £462bn per year. This cost accounts for the unpaid duties carried out around the home, including cooking, cleaning, ironing and caring for family members.

The research, carried out amongst 1,527 consumers, showed that if people were paid at the current hourly rate for all of the tasks they carry out around the home, their annual salary would be equal to £7,864. The average working week is 37.5 hours - and Britons spend half this time again (16.5 hours) on unpaid household chores. This takes the actual working week to 54 hours.

The most costly weekly tasks around the home are cooking (£20.49) and DIY (£19.09). Cooking is also the job Britons spend most time on (2 hours 22 minutes) followed by cleaning (1 hour, 56 minutes), gardening (1 hour 48 minutes) and grocery shopping (1 hour 47 minutes).

However, should they be unable to carry out these tasks due to illness or injury, more than half (58%) of all respondents would expect their partner to do them for them, in addition to doing their own domestic chores. Almost one in five (18%) would rely on their family, nearly one in ten (8%) would hire someone to do these jobs for them and 3% would turn to their friends for help around the home. The remainder (11%) do not know how they would cope with domestic tasks if they were unable to carry them out themselves.

Women spend more time than men each week on unpaid household chores (17 hours, 39 minutes compared to 15 hours, 53 minutes). This accounts for an additional 92 hours or £716 over the year (Men - £7,619, Women - £8,335).

People in the North East spend the most time of all regions on domestic tasks each week (17 hours, 23 minutes) whilst those in the West Midlands spend the least (14 hours, 43 minutes).

Scots are most likely of all regions to expect their partner to take care of the home should they be unable to (71%) whilst almost a quarter of people in the Yorkshire and Humberside region (24%) would turn to their families. Londoners are most likely to hire someone to carry out these tasks for them (15%).

Tanya Jackson, Corporate Affairs Manager at Yorkshire Building Society commented: "It is easy to underestimate the value of work carried out around the home, which can easily be taken for granted as an unpaid occupation. However, the fact that this work accounts for £462bn in the UK every year, highlights that people must take into consideration the limitation on both time and finances that would occur if people were unable to continue carrying out these duties.

"At Yorkshire Building Society, we offer income protection policies for both employed people and homemakers, so that they would be able to hire people to carry out the tasks that they do on a daily basis without having to pass the extra work on to their partners, families or friends."