I read this research with great interest - believe me, there are days when I have no trouble believing these figures at all !! The Milk & More service sounds like a great way of saving some time and stress and I'll be trialling it in the New Year so I'll tell you how we got on.
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HARDWORKING mums spend 27,250 hours and 31 minutes running around after their families in their lifetime meaning that after having kids, women spend a third of their waking life looking after them.
Shopping takes up the bulk of that time with the average mum spending a massive 4,155 hours 49 minutes doing the weekly food shop and mid-week emergency runs to their local stores topping up on items.
The report shows that they spend the equivalent of 1,135 days or five and a half years doing chores from housework to homework, and that they are rushed off their feet organising their families and keeping their homes in order.
Behind shopping came cooking, baking and preparing breakfasts, lunches and dinners with mums spending 2,180 hours and 52 minutes or more than 90 days in the kitchen. The study by looked at how 2,000 mums spend their time each week was commissioned by milk&more the modern online top-up shopping service, to highlight the importance Mums attach to time-saving and convenience-based services.
Andrew Kendall, Marketing and Buying Director for milk&more said: “Everyone knows that mums are the backbone of the family unit, but seeing just how long they spend running around after their families puts things in to perspective. With most mums working as well it’s important that they have flexibility in their lives and we aim to make milk&more as convenient to use as possible to take some of the pressure off mums.
“Spending nearly half a year of your life just doing essential food shopping isn’t exactly fun!. It also highlights just how a service like milk&more can give mum’s back some precious time to enjoy with their families. In total mums spend 35 hours 51 minutes a week doing chores and if they were paid the minimum wage for their efforts it would amount to £218.88 a week or £199,180 in additional income over their lifetime.If they were paid the national average wage it would be £360 a week, or £346,960 over their life time.Three quarters of the mums surveryed say they feel they would like a few more hours in the day to get everything done, with one in ten saying they find themselves cleaning and paying bills well in to the night.
Picking up after their kids and tidying takes up 2,620 hours and 48, minutes while getting the clothes washed and dried takes up 2,442 hours 57 minutes.
Mums spend 2,180 hours and 52 minutes washing up, 1,506 hours and 57 minutes cleaning the bathroom and 1,694 hours and 9 minutes cleaning the oven, obviously one of the most hated jobs.
The school run and taking kids to afterschool clubs take up 1,740 hours 57 minutes and 1,301 hours 2 minutes respectively and 1,432 hours and 4 minutes are spent running the family to appointments such as the dentist and doctor.
Only four out of ten mums get any help around the house despite the fact that most of those surveyed held down a full time or part time paid job as well. If mums got some help with just the cooking, they would have nearly four additional hours a week to spend time having fun with their children. Andrew Kendall from milk&more said: “For busy families who realise they haven’t got enough bread for tomorrow’s packed lunches or enough eggs for breakfast, milk&more is a godsend – there’s no need to dash out to the convenience store in town. The milk&more service is designed to be easy and flexible to use. The idea is that if milk&more can take just one of those chores from mums thus giving families more time to spend more time together.”
1. Food shopping – 4,155 hours 49 minutes
2. Cooking – 3,603 hours and 36 minutes
3. Tidying – 2,620 hours 48 minutes
4. Washing – 2,442 hours 57 minutes
5. Washing Up - 2,180 hours and 42 minutes
6. Ironing – 1,787 hours 45 minutes
7. School Run – 1,740 hours 57 minutes
8. Cleaning the oven – 1,694 hours 9 minutes
9. Helping with homework – 1,544 24 minutes
10. Cleaning the bathroom – 1,506 hours 57 minutes
11 Appointments – 1,432 hours 4 minutes
12. Running kids to afterschool clubs – 1,301 hours 2 minutes
13. Paying bills and sorting repairs – 1,240 hours 12 minutes
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The research was commissioned for Milk & More, the direct, local delivery service from Dairy Crest which is known as ‘the little store at your door’. It combines the best of traditional milkman delivery with the convenience of modern online shopping.
Simply place, check, or change your order online up to 9pm the night before your next delivery.
No hassle, no queues, just a great service, brought straight to your door, all from the same friendly Dairy Crest milkman. milk&more offers everything from bread to breakfast cereal, and yoghurt to tin foil.
Dairy Crest milkmen deliver 500 million bottles of milk every year.
There are approximately 2,400 milkmen and floats delivering the milk&more service to more than a million homes.
for more information : http://www.milkandmore.co.uk/
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It is a bit scary how much time we spend doing things isn't it. Thankfully blogging and Twitter aren't on there ;-)
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