‘I’m not a housekeeper': Woman demands boyfriend handle all the household chores since he works from home full-time, he refuses to comply

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Sep 20, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

It's no secret that working from home is a great perk. Who wouldn't jump on the opportunity to skip the morning traffic, get rid of the commute completely, and work in comfy pajamas out of the comfort of your own bed? 

Working from home also grants you the great gift of time to actually take care of the space you are living in. Whenever I work from home, I constantly find myself vacuuming the house or cooking while I'm between meetings, and I am fully aware that this is not something I am able to do on days I work from the office. 

That being said, working from home does not mean you can completely ditch your job to become a full-time housekeeper. Working from home still requires working, and like it or not, that is still the main objective of any workday.

It appeared as if the girlfriend in the story below does not agree, as she thinks that since her boyfriend works from home while she is full-time at an office, he should be in charge of all the household chores.

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  • She claims that the lack of commute should be compensated for with vacuuming, cooking, and doing the laundry. He claims that dividing the chores is much more fair.

    Keep scrolling to read the full story.

  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10555752192
    via Aflo Images

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    AITA for telling my girlfriend I won't do all the cleaning just because I work from home?

    I (29m) work remotely full-time. My gf (28f) works at an office. We recently moved in together, and suddenly she expects me to handle all the household chores because I'm already home all day.
    via snarky04
  • 03
    I told her that working from home doesn't mean I'm free to vacuum, cook, and do laundry between meetings.
    via snarky04
  • 04
    I already do my fair share, but she keeps saying it's not equal because she commutes.
    via snarky04
  • 05
    Last week I refused to do the dishes she left after dinner, saying I wasn't going to be treated like her housekeeper.
    via snarky04
  • 06
    She snapped that I was being selfish. AITA for refusing to do more chores just because I work from home?
    via snarky04
  • 07
    Vintage2000s NTA - To be honest, WFH can (job depending) afford some additional flexibility at home like putting a load of washing on at lunch time etc and there is obviously the fact that you're at home more so "dirtying" the house more. So I do see that a partner who WFH might have that flexibility HOWEVER it has to be a conversation and agreement not a demand.
    via Vintage2000s
  • 08
    Since you just moved in together, it would appear you want the relationship to work so sitting down and discussing fair division of labour is a normal part of those early living together niggles. You going to the internet to prove you have done nothing wrong doesn't particularly solve the issue.
    via Vintage2000s
  • 09
    FalseAsphodel INFO: how long is her commute? If she's commuting over an hour in each direction that's two hours a day you have extra, for example. I'm not saying you should do all the cleaning and chores but it would be nice of you to pop her washing in the machine for her or load/unload the dishwasher. Not while you're working, obviously, but in the morning before you start work or before she gets home. If her commute is short then you don't have much more free time than she does.
    via FalseAsphode
  • 10
    Cheezburger Image 10555752448
    via Photo By: Kaboompics.com

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 11
    marygoore NTA but if she cooked you dinner and you didn't do the dishes, you sk
    via marygoore
  • 12
    Whenitsajar As a team, you should aim to have the same amount of free time (because you should want that for your partner). If she has a long commute and you have none, than your fair share should be a bigger percentage of chores. Not saying all the chores or that you have to do them during your work day, but remember that you're a team. Sounds like she's got a bit of an attitude because she's jealous of your extra free time and is expressing it poorly. Try to use some of that free time to benef
    via Whenitsajar
  • 13
    EVANonSTEAM How much does she does around the house and what is her commute? Commute DOES factor in; if she is commuting an hour one-way for example you bet I'm cleaning a few of her dishes.
    via EVANonSTEAM
  • 14
    MistressLyda INFO: How long is her commute?
    via MistressLyda
  • 15
    ESH Nrysis It sounds like you both need to communicate better, because you are both making good points but also refusing to listen to what the other is saying. You are saying that just because you are at home all day, that doesn't mean you have any time during working hours to do chores, which is true.
    via Nrysis
  • 16
    She is saying that because she has a long commute, her working hours are longer, and it is unfair for you to be sitting watching TV or playing games during that time when she has not finished her workday by arriving home. This is also fairly reasonable. So the solution is somewhere in between, which is what I expect both of you were actually aiming at - you compare the length of your work days to figure out how much extra free time you have available, and full on that time doing some of the hous
    via Nrysis
  • 17
    Maybe that means you doing the cooking so dinner is ready when she gets home. Maybe her commute is an easy one where
    via Nrysis
  • 18
    keyboardbill I work from home and pick up more household duties because of that. Do I pick up all of them? No. Does she contribute quite a bit? Yes. You guys need to meet in the middle here. NAH here. Yet...
    via keyboardbill
  • 19
    INFO Dry_Barracuda2850 What is the current split of chores? How much mess does working from home add? (Like drinks during the day and dishes from lunch, etc)
    via Dry_Barracuda2850
  • 20
    TemptingPenguin369 NTA. WFH doesn't mean you're not on the clock, or you don't have to constantly monitor emails or Slack throughout the workday. You may need to revisit the division of chores in your household.
    via TemptingPenguin369

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