Doing housework adds three years to your life
Dutch researchers have found that housework can add years to your life – but only if you’re a woman.
Women who clean, vacuum and do the laundry are likely to live three years longer. But housework appears to have little effect on men. Instead, research shows that men are better off gardening than doing housework to extend their longevity. They on average live 2.7 years longer, while working outside the home seems to have little effect on women.
The University Medical Centre Rotterdam team studied the lifestyle of more than 7,000 men and women over decades. They found that a 55-year-old woman who does little around the house is likely to live to 83 but a woman who does housework will live on to the age of 86.
Dr Klodian Dhana, who led the research team, said the differences “may partly be explained by the fact that men engaged in more gardening and women in domestic work”.
Well, we can’t see this piece of health advice taking off!
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