Feb 04, 2015 02:26 PM EST By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

New research suggests that men on lower incomes are more likely to help their partners with housework than higher-earners.

Researchers at the University of Warwick found that while the burden of keeping the home clean is starting to be shared more equally between couples, signs of a class divide are beginning to emerge. However, women are still by far doing the most around the home, no matter how many hours they work or how much they are paid.

"There's a stark difference in couples' attitudes towards gender equality depending on how much they are earning," Dr. Clare Lyonette, who led the study, said in a statement. It seems men on lower incomes are happily picking up the dusters, filling the dishwasher and generally starting to do their bit. Times are changing and they acknowledge there's now a need for more equality in the home."

For the study, Lyonette interviewed a number of partnered men and women for the project, all of whom had at least one child under the age of 14.

"There's certainly a fairer division of household labor between couples than in the past but inequality still exists and that's perpetuated, in part, by the so-called 'myth of male incompetence'," Lyonette added. "This is a belief by some women -- and our study shows it's still rife - that men are unable to complete housework to an acceptable standard."

Based on her findings, Lyonette concluded that men from lower-income families certainly seem to be starting to do their bit around the home.

"But at the same time, until all men are willing to take on more domestic tasks, so allowing women to take on greater responsibility within the workplace, any hoped-for progress in gender equality is likely to stall," she said.

The findings are detailed in the journal Work, Employment and Society.

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