CAPE TOWN, July 28 (ANA) – A recent survey has revealed that 45% of Moroccan men are helping with the housework during the coronavirus lockdown as compared with 13.1% who pitched in with chores in 2012.
Morocco World News reported on Monday that the High Commission for Planning surveyed 2,169 households from June 15–24.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced millions of people into confinement and men and women have had to changes their lifestyles.
According to the study, the nationwide lockdown has influenced some Moroccan men’s role in the home, with 19.3% of men saying they have contributed to housework for the first time during confinement, wrote Morocco World News.
In urban areas, 49% of Moroccan men reported helping with housework as compared with 15.3% in 2012. In rural areas, 37% of men said they are helping out around the house as compared with 9.7% in 2012, according to the survey.
The study also found that more than half of Moroccans, or 51.5%, spend leisure time using information and communications technology (ICT). Morocco World News reported that around 1.5% of households explored technology for the first time during lockdown (1.2% of men and 2% of women).
In 2018, a UN report showed that about 70% of Moroccan men consider household chores a woman’s most important responsibility.
According to the survey conducted among 2,889 households, 7 out of 10 men believe that “men should have the last word in household decisions”.
Men also consider themselves to be “responsible for women”. More than 75% feel they have a “duty of guardianship”, towards women, wrote Morocco World News.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
