In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, celebrated each year on 8 March, questions about gender equality often extend beyond the workplace and into everyday life – including the division of chores at home.
According to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), in Belgium, more women than men do household chores such as cooking, cleaning and laundry every day (50% compared to 27% of men).
The EIGE says the gender gap is particularly wide among couples with children. Women are still more likely than men to spend over five hours a day caring for children aged under 11, with 30% of women doing so, compared with 20% of men.
Furthermore, women tend to take on more caring responsibilities than men in addition to doing household chores. For those in the so-called 'sandwich generation' (middle-aged adults who care for both ageing parents and children), the burden is particularly heavy.
This week, we took to the streets of Brussels to ask a range of people how they divide chores in their households.
50/50 – but pregnancy changes the balance
Married couple Scarlett and Robin, who are in their late 20s, say they normally divide tasks between them. Scarlett usually cooks, shops for groceries and manages the kitchen, while Robin cleans the house, does the laundry and handles repairs.
But life circumstances can shift that balance. “Now that I’m seven months pregnant, he’s doing everything,” Scarlett says. “He cooks and really takes care of the whole house.” Under normal circumstances, she insists, the arrangement is “completely 50/50”, with Robin taking charge of laundry and ironing.
For some, equality in chores is less about negotiation than necessity. Simon, a single father in his 40s, says he simply manages everything himself. “I have to do it all - the laundry, cooking, fixing things, cleaning - and I take care of my children,” he explains.
For Dale and Amy, a couple from the UK who have been together for three years and living together for one, sharing the workload comes naturally. “It’s really 50/50 at home, it’s not based on gender at all,” they explain.
Cooking duties depend mainly on who gets home first from work. Repairs are also shared: “When something is broken in the house, sometimes she fixes it and sometimes I do,” Dale says.
The couple also split tasks like laundry. According to Amy, only one chore still carries a slightly traditional label. “There’s just one thing that’s considered a man’s job: taking out the trash," laughs Amy. "I sometimes do it, but most of the time it’s mainly him."
Dale and Amy. Credit: The Brussels Times/Léa Huppe
Working schedules
Other households are influenced by working schedules. Maria says her husband works late, leaving her to deal with most of the daily tasks.
“He doesn’t have many opportunities to help at home, but he always tries to help on weekends when he’s not working,” she says. Still, she admits she often prefers handling things herself.
“I like things to be done my way.” She takes care of the children, cleaning, cooking and laundry, occasionally relying on a cleaner when the workload becomes too heavy.
Working as a team
For Barbara and Henri, a couple in their 50s, the key is flexibility. “Overall it’s really half and half,” Barbara says. Their responsibilities shift depending on their schedules. When she picks up the children from school and helps with homework, Henri will do the grocery shopping and cook for the family.
When Barbara works weekends, he takes charge of laundry and cleaning. “When I’m not working, we do the chores together, like a team,” she adds.
Even within relationships that strive for equality, couples tend to divide tasks according to their preferences. In my own experience, chores also fall into a rhythm based on what each person enjoys.
My boyfriend, who loves cooking, usually prepares our meals while I handle the dishes afterwards. I take care of the laundry, but he actually enjoys ironing and does most of it. While I do a deep clean of our apartment once a week, he sweeps daily to keep things tidy until the next big clean.
These testimonies appear to reflect a broader trend: domestic work is increasingly seen as a shared responsibility rather than being 'women's work'.
Still, much depends on professional obligations, family structure and personal habits.
A generational divide
There is also a clear generational divide. The EIGE points out that the gender gap in Belgium on household chores is wider in older age groups than in younger ones.
But progress towards equality at home is not guaranteed. A recent global survey conducted by Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London found that some young men are adopting more traditional views on gender roles than older generations.
According to the study of 23,000 people across 29 countries, nearly one third of Generation Z men believe a wife should obey her husband, and a similar proportion think a husband should have the final word in important household decisions.
Researchers warn that these attitudes highlight the fragility of progress toward gender equality. While many couples today strive to share responsibilities at home, experts say social expectations, economic pressures and changing ideas of masculinity can still influence how roles are perceived within relationships.
The findings suggest that, even as some households move toward more balanced partnerships, the debate over equality inside the home remains far from settled.
