WOMEN are still spending more time in the kitchen, apparently.
Women cook more than men, and this is because of gender disparities and their marital status, according to a recent report from Gallup and Cookpad’s World Cooking Index.
The World Cooking Index report investigates whether and how home cooking coincides with other life factors.
According to the WCI report, women, on average, are estimated to cook 4.3 more meals each week than men.
“Gender remains the single most impactful predictor of the frequency of home cooking,” said the report.
Aside from their gender, the second most impactful predictor of increased women cooking frequency is the region. The highest regional disparity was reported in Northern Africa, where women cooked up to 7.4 more meals than men.
This is followed by employment status. Women who are employed are estimated to cook fewer meals per week and, despite equal job status with their partner, they still carry the burden of cooking chores, it said.
The report also showed that while there are men in other parts of the world, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, who spend time cooking, women still constitute the majority of food shoppers and preparers.
The analysis likewise revealed that women eat more at home than men, mainly due to their marital status. Married people are reported to cook 0.8 more meals per week than those who are not married.
However, compared to the WCI’s 2018 report, men’s cooking frequency has climbed from 3.9 in 2018 to 4.7 in 2021, while women’s cooking frequency has reduced from 9.1 in 2018 to 8.7 in 2021. Despite the increase in men’s cooking frequency, women’s cooking frequency is nearly 50 percent higher than men’s.
Pakistan has the highest gender disparity in household cooking, with women cooking 8.6 more meals per week than males. This disparity is equivalent to a 1,200 percent difference in other countries, according to the report.
Aside from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal were the countries where women cook more than men.
Only two countries have women cooking less than or at the same level as men: Iceland, where men and women cook equally, and Jamaica, where men cook an average of 0.2 more meals per week than women, the report said.
Meanwhile, the Philippines was ranked 19th in the WCI for cooking an average of 8 meals per week in 2021, slightly lower than the country’s 8.2 reported average meals prepared in 2020.
