The division of household labour post-retirement

DH has drifted into retirement very slowly. He is now 81, but still does occasional projects.

We divide tasks by what we are good at. I am a good organiser and run the hous to my satisfaction. He is a DIYer. Extend that to designing extensions, negotiatng with planning department. Joining the builder to fit the guttering himself 3 weeks after 8 weeks in hospital. He also fixes cars and mends toys. All work way beyond my capacities or skills.

He is now very limited in what he can do by health problems, while I am still fighting fit.

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate you for taking the time to reply in such detail. I like the fact that many of you have divided the jobs according to preferences and what you're good at - seems fair!

I do all the grocery shopping, pretty much all the food prep and cooking, he doesn't really cook apart from scrambled eggs. I clean the kitchen and utility room which are more my domain. I sort the washing, strip the beds, and make them, generally tidy up, I do my ironing and the bed linen, I'd do his, but he tells me I don't do his collars properly, whatever that means He does the gardening, sorts out anything to do with both our cars, he does his own ironing, loads the dishwasher, I don't do that properly either washes pots and pans. Hoovers, he likes it! He also cleans the bathrooms, although if my son comes for the week-end he'll clean the shower room for us cos he has more elbow grease.

Since he retired dh still doesn’t cook, but he invariably clears up the kitchen, loads the dishwasher, and unloads it in the morning.

More recently he’s started putting a wash on, and hanging it up.
He cuts the grass and does the edges, and anything DIY-ish.

I usually do any vacuuming, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, etc. But housework is not my favourite occupation so it gets done when I can be bothered.
And gardening (other than grass cutting) is down to me - TBH dh barely knows a daisy from a daffodil.

DH pays the gardener

I pay the cleaner

Both do what is necessary in between, although he has no idea how the washing machine works or where the iron and ironing board are…

Our split has always been traditional, me covering anything indoors like laundry, cooking, cleaning and finances and himself doing all building, gardening and car.

Since he retired 5 years before me he added laundry and cleaning to his list along with some cooking which helped a lot.

Having been retired myself for 7 years we’ve pretty much returned full circle to tradition and they are the tasks at which each is most proficient. Win, win for us.

I think DH has always done his share. He loves cooking and is far better at it than me. Today he has made a cottage pie for tea and he made vegetable soup and soda bread for lunch. He looks after the garden, vacuums etc. I can't complain.

OH has always done his share but we tend to do the things we either like doing or do best. I like to shop and cook so he does all the clearing up and lays the table. He loads and empties the dishwasher. We share the gardening although he does the hedges, picks up the leaves and most of the heavier work. I grow the veg/greenhouse and grow the flowers. I'm lucky enough to have someone who helps me in the house but when she was off for a long time having a knee replacement we shared the cleaning. OH does all the washing and we do our own ironing. He's really helpful and if I'm away or unwell he just picks up the slack.

No, it didn’t change at all, other than DH took over looking after and exercising his dogs. He took early retirement from a job that kept him away from home, so I always ‘did everything’ and so it continued.
He exchanged working away for most of the week to being away 3 or 4 days a week with the dogs or fishing.
I had a little army of GAMIs (get a man in) for jobs I could tackle.

It worked for us.

No change here I look after the house,OH does DIY ,gardening and car stuff.I like it this way,we,re a team who perform to our strengths.Why change it after almost 50 years ?I have my own way of doing things and prefer no one else in the kitchen or even making our bed.a wee bit OCD my daughter says.

DH did a bit more of the cooking. He shared the meal planning and shopping as he had particular dietary requirements. We agreed he would do his own ironing, but then he decided his shirts didn’t need ironing after all! No housework, but he could mend anything. He did all the “ men’s work” as he put it - a standing joke, but true.

No it did not change post-retirement as we have always shared the household chores. If you undertook them pre-retirement it may be difficult to change how things are done if your Partner has relied on you to be the chief cook and bottle washer.

My husband actually always helped with housework, he is a bit anal about cleanliness so I let him get on with it. The one job he never likes to do though is the laundry, but seeing as he does a lot of other stuff the laundry is down to me. With the GCs he loves babysitting but isn’t so great at changing nappies. X

Yes, Mr. S. now helps out with hoovering for example, which he didn't do before he retired.