A new series of Channel 5’s The Show delves into the domestic lives of British families and examines what happens when overworked wives and mothers have had enough.
Mums on Strike, which resumes on Sunday, visits “some of the most unequal households in the UK” where one partner is responsible for more of the domestic burden than anyone else in the home.
Each episode features two families in which generally (though not always) the woman is fed up with being the fat one of the house.
In a last-ditch effort to show how much work they do around the house, the family member who does the most “goes on strike” for a week, leaving all the chores to everyone else for a change.
“Those left behind must try to spend a week without the family axis, while we discover the real dynamics of the home,” says a statement describing the program.
David and Alfie Ogden (pictured left) from Oldham are unhappy after their mother Sarah ‘went on strike’ and left them to cope with household chores.
According to his wife and mother Sarah Ogden (pictured), as well as working part-time as a dog groomer, he also does all the work around the house.
‘As the strike unfolds, we follow both sides as they try to cope, in this unique look at modern Britain and how we all live together.’
The first episode introduces the Ogden family from Oldham, including Sarah, 54, who is married to David, 54. The couple share a 16-year-old son, Alfie.
Part-time dog groomer Sarah does all the work around the house and isn’t content to feel like she’s become the family maid (so much so that she says she “mentally packs” every night) and has done for years.
David, an operations manager, believes that household chores like cooking and cleaning are “women’s work.”
As the breadwinner of his family, he says he has no time for housework (or dates with his wife) and is not prepared to let anything stop him from watching his beloved Manchester City, with whom he is obsessed.
In the first episode, Sarah says: “Normally, I do everything around the house. David moves a cup from time to time and tells you about it… I wash, iron, cook, clean, do the shopping, fix the windows.”
She adds: “I take care of the blinds, the skirting boards, the sofa, the cushions… It’s a never-ending task. I clean up the dog’s excrement three times a day.”
Meanwhile, while David admits his wife “probably does most of it”, he says it’s not “exhausting” work, adding: “It’s not about digging roads, is it?”
Wife and mother Gaynor Eckersley (pictured right) with husband Paul (second from right) and twin sons Dylan and Devon (both pictured left)
However, when he discovers that his wife is on strike, meaning he will have to take up the mantle, he is not happy.
“So I go to work, pay the bills, come home, make my tea, do the cleaning, iron, clean the house,” she says during the episode.
“I don’t think so. I’d rather buy my own apartment… it’s crap.”
The second family to appear on the show includes the Bolton-based Eckersley family: Gaynor, 59, her husband Paul, 58, and their twin sons Dylan and Devon, 16.
According to Gaynor, who runs a hair salon, she does 75 percent of the housework herself and wants help from her husband and children, who she believes are old enough to help out too.
However, Father Paul is not convinced and says that he does not want his house to become a workhouse.
As both women feel the strain of working and doing the vast majority of household chores, they rebel and let their families clean up after them.
Oldhma resident David Ogden (pictured) was less than happy when he found out his wife Sarah (pictured) was going on strike.
According to the show’s information, Gaynor and Sarah “air their demands and bond over menopause,” even calling themselves “the HRT sisters.”
“Their husbands’ immediately ‘rude’ responses do not go down well,” she added.
‘Paul objects to Gaynor’s plans to enlist the help of her children and David and his son can’t figure out how to make an omelette, let alone the resulting mess of their bulldog’s dinner.
‘Wives don’t give up and neither do their friends, even when things get cold –
Can David win love with a homemade salad? Can Paul talk to the boys about women’s issues?
The new series of Mums on Strike airs on Sunday 21st July at 9pm on Channel 5 and My5.