Women do more housework

than men. This is the absolutely amazing finding of some research conducted by a reputable university. It is true even if the woman is the partner earning the most.  That is even more amazing.
Mmm....pardon my sarcasm please.
The research was reported in today's paper. I am awaiting comments from the Senior Cat. He has not yet appeared in the kitchen for breakfast.
Now let it be said  here that the Senior Cat did help in the house. He would still help if he could. It infuriates him that I now need to do the things he could once do.
After my mother died he told me there were certain things he would do. He swept floors. He vacuumed the carpet. He did the dishes  and the household maintenance. He did the gardening and more. 
   "You cook meals and you are much better at ironing than I am."
This was and is true. The Senior Cat would not have starved. He once went to cooking classes. The ironing? Mmm....not good. I would rather not have scorched shirts. He was good at scrubbing the bathroom. 
Almost twenty years on however he doesn't have the physical capacity to do any of those things. It bothers him. He wasn't brought up to do the housework. His mother would not have expected that - although he and his brother were expected to make their beds, lay the table and help with the dishes. Housework just wasn't something boys were expected to do ninety years ago. 
My brother was expected to do it. Our mother had it all set out and for us all to see stuck to the fridge door. Each week it would go up with our names filled in. We knew exactly what we were expected to do. We were not supposed to negotiate changes with each other and woe betide us if something didn't get done. Mum was a full time teacher. The last thing she wanted was to deal with children at home as well. Mum still did the cooking and most of the ironing but Dad was chopping firewood and pumping water into the overhead feed tank.
Perhaps our parents divided up the tasks more evenly than most families. I know people expressed surprise at the things the Senior Cat did. He would still like to do many of those things.
And my brother can do all those things. 
I am also certain that, had I married, my partner would have helped with those things too. His mother had expected he would be able to do those things. 
Is that part of what it is going to take?