New Survey Finds Moms Applying Business Techniques in the Home

The first-ever State of the Home survey from Whirlpool Home Appliances in America has found that American homes are beginning to be run like businesses and women are seeing themselves as 'Chief Home Officers.'

With more women in the workforce than ever before, homes are being run with the help of computer scheduling and basic business technique focused on activities like delegation, prioritisation and task completion.

"Today's moms are taking the techniques they've learned in the workplace and using them to great effect in the home," said Stacy DeBroff, president of Mom Central, Inc.

"With the growth of two-income families, a multitude of children's activities and households headed by singles, the only way that all the tasks can get done is if the household is organised.

'Moms are now using high tech tools like Personal Digital Assistants and computer spreadsheets to run their homes efficiently."

Whirlpool is using the term Chief Home Officer, or CHO to describe this new breed of home manager -- typically Mom -- that is taking on the role of delegating tasks and assigning responsibility within the family.

According to Whirlpool's State of the Home survey of 1,000 women:

• Ninety-five percent of moms delegate household tasks to other family members

• Nearly 40 percent say they run their home like a business

• Almost two out of three (61%) rank themselves as "very efficient" in managing their homes

• More than half (58%) say they keep to-do lists at home for themselves and family members

• The tasks CHOs most often delegated to other family members include cleaning bedrooms (65%), doing dishes (62%), vacuuming (61%); and putting away groceries (57%).