Who’s Cleaner: Men or Women? We Finally Have Answers
Moving in with your significant other isn’t all sunshine, rainbows and picking out throw pillows. It’s a struggle to learn to live together. Think about it: You’re two different people who grew up in different houses around different people, and you’re coming together under one roof for the first time—bringing with you two totally distinct sets of home habits. Regardless of the gender makeup of your own relationship, it’s unlikely that all your personal preferences will align.
A few weeks into your cohabitating domestic bliss, you might find that your (same- OR opposite – sex) partner’s preference for leaving toothpaste spots in the sink every morning gets on your nerves. And you’ll likely be on the receiving end of some nagging about how you leave piles of dirty dishes in the sink, or something.
What Are Cohabitating Couples Most Likely to Squabble Over?
To get to the bottom of these sorts of squabbles about living together, Home Advisor conducted a recent survey of 2,000 people who live with their significant others in order to discover the source of all the fuss. They asked each cohabitating respondent to reveal if they had strong preferences about certain home habits—the idea being that if more people have a strong preference about a habit, it’s more likely to inspire an argument between partners.
The number one preference is closing the blinds and shades at night—85 percent of respondents said that a partner’s disagreement would be a deal breaker. Another source of tension? Controlling the thermostat. Almost 82 percent of people indicated that they preferred to control the air conditioner and heater over their partner (and that number jumped to 89 and 92 percent for women and men who pay the electric bill, respectively).
But, we did say we had some answers on the big gender question, too. So…
Do Men or Women Have More Clean Habits?
Home Advisor’s survey also revealed more about one very big question that probably crossed your mind if you live with your partner: Is it men or women who have a tendency to be cleaner?
It turns out women are more likely to subscribe to many clean habits, like cleaning after themselves in the bathroom and making the bed in the morning. And more women said that they were bothered by clutter and unkempt things. But men win the kitchen battle: Men were more likely to clean their dirty dishes right away after using them.
To learn more about the results, including geographic breakdowns of toilet seat and thermostat preferences, check out the full study on Home Advisor.
What do you think? Do the survey results resonate with your experience?