It's Stop Driving Me Crazy Month

And today, the perfect news story for this month from the New Zealand Herald, check this out:

Cleaning, not children, key to domestic bliss

5:20PM, August 9, 2007

The saying "I like hugs, I like kisses, but what I really like is help with the dishes" has been endorsed by a survey released today which suggests the key to domestic bliss is sharing domestic responsibility.

The survey of 750 adults, aged 18 and over, offered some insight into what New Zealanders believed made a successful marriage, and it seemed sharing the vacuuming or cleaning was more important than having children.

The findings of the survey conducted by UMR Research, listed nine different attributes of a successful marriage, with sharing the household chores ranked third.

Director of UMR Research Tim Grafton said New Zealand attitudes and opinions were similar to those of Americans found in a survey earlier this year.

The top ranked attribute in both surveys was faithfulness, followed by a happy sexual relationship.

Children ranked sixth on the list, well below housing and adequate income.

Comparisons with an earlier American survey revealed the increasing importance of sharing the load at home, Mr Grafton said.

In 1990, 47 per cent of respondents believed sharing the chores was important, compared with 62 per cent this year.

"It seems that over the past 17 years there has been an increasing appreciation of the value in the equality of unpaid work at home," he said.

The most significant difference between New Zealanders and Americans was the importance of shared religious and political beliefs.

Nearly 50 per cent of those surveyed in America believed similar religious beliefs were important, compared to 21 per cent of New Zealanders.

- NZPA