Domestic divide is closing

Men are doing more aroundthe house as women spend
more time in paid work, a study has found.

An analysis of studies from 1986 to 2005 by University of Queensland researchers has found a narrowing of the gender gap when it comes to hours worked in the office and at home.

More than 2400 people were surveyed over that time and divided into those in "new traditional" partnerships where the man worked full-time and the woman worked part-time, and "dual-earner" couples where both worked full-time.

Couples who worked full-time were found to spend roughly the same amount of time in paid and unpaid work over the week, 66.88 hours for men and 67.47 hours for women in 2005.

Women were more likely to do housework than men but by 2005 the gap between them had started to close: men in 1986 were doing 12 hours less housework than women, compared to around 5.5 hours in 2005. However, paid working hours for men and women had not changed much over the time, suggesting there had been a "disinvestment" by women in the value of housework, researchers said.

Among "new traditional" families, men spent roughly 25 hours more a week in paid work but also did more domestic work as women did less housework.

Researcher Jenny Chesters said the findings showed there was a change among couples' approach to sharing work and home responsibilities. But the gender revolution may not have necessarily continued once couples have children. Women with dependent children were found to still spend similar time doing housework over the two decades, more than double the amount men spent and between 11% and 12% more than women without children.

"What's essentially happening is they are increasingly doing less paid work hours and more housework hours," Chesters said. "Once they have children they are essentially choosing part-time (paid) work."

Child care-related tasks such as changing nappies and taking children to school were not included in the analysis as each study defined child care differently.

The world's richest dropouts

Michael Dell enrolled as a biology major at University of Texas but spent more time fiddling with stacks of computer parts in his dorm room than hitting up the library. Instead of studying, he started selling new computers through advertisements in local papers.

It was a lucrative distraction. By the end of his freshman year, Dell was selling about $80,000 a month in computers. With the money rolling in, Dell decided not to return to school.

He dropped out of college at 19 to run the company that would become Dell Inc. Within the next few years, Dell's annual sales passed US$100 million. This March, Forbes' pegged Michael Dell's net worth at US$ 16.4 billion.

The most recent list of the world's richest included 1,125 billionaires. At least 73 of them, like Dell, dropped out of some stage of schooling.

Those 73 are like Dell in another way too: They didn't drop out to watch daytime television on the couch. They left school to work hard.

Dell explained his attitude to University of Texas grads at a 2003 commencement address: "Circle the pitfalls and highlight the opportunities. Then build a vision of how it could all be better and work like hell to make it happen."

Sheldon Adelson is another billionaire lacking a degree but possessing plenty of hustle. Adelson enrolled at City College of New York but didn't finish, probably because he was too busy with other ventures.

When he was 12, Adelson borrowed US$ 200 from his uncle to start selling newspapers. He dropped out of college to become a court reporter. He also worked as an ad salesman, a consultant, and a tour-business operator.

That relentless drive led him to his first big windfall. He organised the computer industry trade show Comdex and made handsome profits leasing out exhibition space. He's since jumped into casinos, where he's been adding to his fortune ever since. In Forbes' most recent list of the world's billionaires, he ranked 12th with a net worth of US$ 26 billion.

Some billionaires didn't even make it as far as Adelson in school. Richard Branson, who had dyslexia, was a lousy student. He dropped out at 16 to start a magazine.

To fund the publication, he also started a mail-order record business; the venture grew into Virgin Records. He took a risk by signing a raucous band called the Sex Pistols, which had already been cut from two other labels. Other hit acts followed, including Boy George and Peter Gabriel.

Plenty of other companies have followed as well. He's since expanded into airlines, health insurance and medical care. Next stop: space. His latest company is Virgin Galactic, which hopes to shoot tourists beyond the Earth's atmosphere.

But don't get the idea from these billionaire dropouts that school is worthless. Even the world's most famous dropout (and the third-richest man) acknowledges the importance of a good education.

Bill Gates left Harvard during his junior year to work on a little company he'd started called Microsoft. He recently testified before Congress on the importance of improving the US education system.

"Too many of our students fail to graduate from high school with the basic skills they will need to succeed in the 21st-century economy, much less prepared for the rigours of college and career," said Gates.

School has other benefits too, like who you meet. In 2000, billionaire Steve Ballmer took over the role of chief executive of Microsoft from Gates. The two lived down the hall from each other while they were both students at Harvard.

Doing things Lankan style

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