The rise of Dynamic Dads in Ireland – Division of family related tasks amongst Modern Day Parents

The rise of Dynamic Dads in Ireland – Division of family related tasks amongst Modern Day Parents

Dads are taking a more hands-on and dynamic approach to childcare than previous generations of fathers. A growing number of Dads are taking the lead in Grocery Shopping, Cooking family meals and being the main carer of children. But Dads in Ireland are still not great at sharing housework and tidying-up.

Headlines:

·         30% of Dads claim to be the main grocery shopper

·         Mums are more likely to buy on impulse than Dads

·         While online grocery shopping remains limited, Dads are more likely to shop online than Mums

·         25% of Dads claim to do most of the cooking at home with 20% of Dads claiming they take it in turn to cook family meals

·         12% of Dads are the main carer with a further 29% sharing childcare task equally during the week

·         25% of fathers claim that housework is shared while just 11% of women concur with this with 77% of mums saying they do most of the housework and tiding up

 Summary Findings:

30% of fathers who still have children living at home, say that they are the main grocery shopper in their household, with just a small minority of parents sharing the shopping equally. 

Planning is prevalent – 67% view a shopping list as important with surprisingly little variations between mothers and fathers in this regard.  However, mothers are more likely to buy on impulse than fathers with 23% of mums doing so compared to just 14% of dads. 

Online shop remains limited – a mere 4% of parents are doing all of their grocery shopping online with only 27% of families grocery shopping online occasionally. Dads are more likely to shop online than mums as they are less interested in being able to see or touch the grocery’s or produce.

Where applicable (i.e. parents of younger children), mothers are still the main carers of their children with 59% of mums looking after their children during the day compared to 12% of dads being the main child-carers. A further 29% of dads state they share childcare responsibility equally during the week. 

77% of mums claim they are doing most of the tidying up versus just 21% of fathers.  Of interest, 25% of dads claim that housework is shared while just 11% of mums concur with this! 

Methodology:

·         Consumer Decisions Omnibus run by iReach in April with 400 responses
·         Results filtered to only include parents with children still living at home split equally by mothers and fathers.  76% with children under 21 and 24% with children over 21.