Home is where the disharmony is for 78% of UK couples

11/04/2011

New research has revealed that only a fifth of UK couples (22%) live in domestic bliss.

The survey by Clydesdale & Yorkshire Banks revealed that 78% of homes across the country are living in a state of domestic disharmony due to couples squabbling over household chores and each other’s annoying habits.

It seems the fairer sex is harder to please with only 17% of women claiming to live in perfect harmony with their partners, compared to 28% of men.

Almost half of women (49%) responded that untidiness is the main issue at home, closely followed by being left with an unfair share of the cleaning (37%). Some 20% of women complain they’re always left to do the dishes.

A quarter of all females (25%) cited their partner not listening to them as a major contributing factor to domestic disagreements while a further 12% listed finding the toilet seat up as a catalyst for a row with their loved one.

The survey also found that the domestic arguments don’t tend to finish when the lights go out either. Almost 1 in 5 (19%) females admitted their partner’s snoring had led to one or two arguments during the small hours of the night while 7% often fight over the duvet.

Steve Reid, Retail Director for Clydesdale Bank, said: “It is great to find that 22% of UK households live in domestic harmony but for those that don’t it would seem that men and women can’t even agree on what causes the disagreements. One thing that we are sure couples will agree on, however, is making their money work for them. This is one area where we can help restore harmony with our range of joint accounts, competitive mortgage products and life insurance.”

The survey also revealed that some households have to put up with bizarre causes of disharmony such as keeping dead mice in the freezer and that the biggest chore for most households is ironing. Some 27% of respondents dislike ironing the most compared to just 10% of those surveyed who claimed they like all chores.