ThirdShift Blog

According to Oxfam, the economic value of the unpaid housework done by women globally in 2019 was $10.9 trillion. This is more than the combined 2018 revenue of the world’s 50 largest companies. Or, put another way, bigger than the GDP of every country in the world except the US,…

Do you do too much of the housework and childcare? Have you taken the ThirdShift Quiz? Here’s why it’s time for your partner to take the Quiz as well, to start having better conversations about creating a better balance at home. We launched the ThirdShift Quiz this week, and we’ve…

Today we’re excited to announce the launch of the ThirdShift Quiz, a free tool to help you understand your housework – how much you’re working, what you’re doing, and what your work is worth. You may be surprised to learn just how much work you do each week, and the…

About a year ago I bought a robot vacuum. It may just be the single best thing I have ever bought. Because I feel literal joy every time I hear it switch itself on automatically to clean my house, or come home (pre-coronavirus) to find it’s cleaned while I’ve been…

In many households coronavirus lockdown has revealed cracks. Whose job gets prioritised when someone needs to take care of children? If there’s a meltdown while you’re both on conference calls, who steps out to deal with it? Your kid needs help with a school task, who gets interrupted first? Who…

Do you feel like you’re doing too much of the housework? You’re not alone! Have you tried talking to you partner about it and it’s quickly turned into a fight? They say they do half, but you know that’s not true? These arguments turn emotional fast, but in this post…

Domestic violence is not a heart warming issue to read about. But this post attempts find some “good news” at a time when we could all use something to smile about. There has been a 25% increase in domestic violence related calls due to lockdowns for coronavirus. Refuge, the UK’s…

Mental Load is the work of having to constantly remember, organise, account for, plan and manage your life and the lives of others in your household. It’s sometimes referred to as being the CEO or Manager of the household. It frequently involves delegating tasks to others, or being asked “how…

We don’t often encounter real wisdom watching teen movies. And yet, that’s what happened when I watched Netflix teen special ‘To all the boys I’ve loved before’. Sounds terrible, right? I thought so too, but read on for the pearl of wisdom it contains. No, seriously. But also, SPOILER ALERT.…

The Standards Challenge (Part Three) Conversations about standards for housework can be a significant source of conflict at home. But how do you talk about it without starting a fight? The first post in this three part series examines why standards might differ between household members. If you missed Part…

The Standards Challenge (Part Two) It’s more common than you’d think for two people to fight about whether household tasks have been ‘done’. Or if everyone is doing their fair share of the work. Why is this? Often it’s because we have different understandings of the ‘whole’ task. The first…

The Challenge of Different Standards (Part One) Do you and your partner have different standards for housework, or different ideas of what a task being done properly means? This common problem is called the Standards Challenge. In this three part series we explore why it happens, and how to fix…