I did more childcare and chores than my husband, despite working full-time. Swapping roles for a week was eye-opening.

"Before my husband and I had children, I earned more than him. I had a senior role at a well-known brand and then, 20 years ago, started a leadership development consultancy. When we had children, I decided to work fewer hours to take care of our boys, who are now 14 and 12. As I was self-employed and could therefore be more flexible with my work hours, I took charge of everything at home, including getting the boys ready for school,"

"My husband, meanwhile, took care of things like our finances and maintaining our house and car, for instance by getting the boiler serviced or the car winter-ready. He was a great partner and dad who was doing a lot. But many of the things he did weren't time sensitive, and could either be done at any time or maybe once a week or quarter. However, a lot of the tasks required to run a house need to be done every day."

Before children she earned more and held a senior role, later founding a leadership development consultancy. After having two boys she reduced work to part-time, term-time and took on daily household responsibilities because self‑employment allowed flexibility. She handled time-sensitive daily tasks: school routines, evening sports logistics, cooking and laundry, while her husband managed finances and less time-sensitive maintenance. His earnings rose after she scaled back, which led her to feel subconsciously responsible for day-to-day care so he could focus on his senior role. She values the choice to be with the children but recognizes the need to rebalance household workload to restore career and earnings progress.

Read at Business Insider