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People, especially women, tend to feel happy if partners do housework: Japan survey

TOKYO — People in Japan, in particular women, generally feel happy if their partners proactively do house chores, according to a survey by a private think tank.

In July, Sompo Institute Plus Inc. conducted the online survey on the level of happiness among people, targeting those in Japan aged between 18 and 89, and received responses from 7,471 people. The institute compiled the results and released a report on Nov. 15.

In the questionnaire, respondents were asked to select a score of the happiness they felt, with a score of 10 given for “very happy” and 0 for “very unhappy.”

According to the report, one of the barometers of women’s happiness was the “division of household chores.” The more positive women felt their husbands or other partners were about housework, the higher their level of happiness tended to be.

The average score of happiness for women who answered their partners were “very positive” about housework was 8.4. The scores gradually declined for women whose partners were “somewhat positive,” “undecided” and “somewhat negative” about doing chores at home. The average happiness level for those who answered their partners were “not positive at all” dropped to 5.6.

By age, about 60% of women aged between 18 and 29 plus those in their 30s said that their partners were either “very positive” or “somewhat positive” about housework. On the other hand, the percentages for women in their 40s through 80s were in the mere 40% range. The results suggest that men in younger generations tend to do housework more proactively

Men, too, had a tendency similar to that of women: the more positive their partners were about house chores, the higher their happiness level.

(Japanese original by Eri Misono, Digital News Group)

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