What To Get Dear Ol' Lazy Dad?

According to a 29-country study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, people average 3.5 hours per day doing unpaid work like cooking, cleaning, child care, shopping, and other chores. Sad to say, women spend 2.5 *more* hours per day than men doing those chores, especially nearly four times longer in the kitchen cooking meals and washing up. Times varied by country, the average being around 50 minutes, but Americans spent about 30 minutes per day for cooking and washing up, versus about 74 minutes in Turkey -- fast food, microwaves, and other convenience cooking pile up the minutes saved in the US. Of course, they also pile up the pounds, but the US obesity rate of 34% versus 17% OECD average is a story for another day.

Indeed, the survey noted that men in India, Japan, and South Korea spent less than one hour per day on chores around the house, Italians and Portuguese men spent less than two hours per day, and in the US and Poland, about three hours per day.

But what about manly chores like 'construction and repair?' You know, heading out to the hardware store for tools and parts to fix a faucet or put on a two-story addition. Sorry guys...men averaged only 13 minutes per day fixing something.

Shopping of all kinds counted as part of that chore time -- an average of 23 minutes per day, with the French at the top at 32 minutes per day, just edging out the Germans at 31 minutes and the Canadians at 30 minutes, while the South Koreans took the bottom spot with only 13 minutes per day in shops, edging out the Turks at 14 minutes per day and the Portuguese at 17 minutes per day.

By the way, Mexicans do the most unpaid work at 4 hours and 13 minutes per day whlie Koreans do the least at 2 hours and 16 minutes. OECD contended all that unpaid work is worth about 33% of GDP for the 25 OECD countries for which data is available, from a low of 19% in Korea to a high of 53% in Portugal. It also noted that the US led all OECD countries in volunteering time, giving money, and helping strangers with 60% versus the average of 39%.

So, what to get dear ol' dad for Father's Day? If you're mom, maybe a tie isn't such a bad idea...to tie him to the kitchen sink so he won't be a stranger to pots, pans, and soap.