Guides

Sharing the household load, fairly

Practical, no-guilt guides on splitting the mental load, dividing chores fairly, kids’ chores and pocket money, and keeping a busy family organised — the ideas Equal House is built on.

Moving from another family app? Cozi, FamilyWall, Maple, TimeTree, Skylight: step by step

Sharing the load

What is a Fairness Score? How to measure who does the housework

A Fairness Score turns the split of household work between partners into one number from 0 to 100. Here is how Equal House works it out, why it weighs effort rather than hours, and what it deliberately leaves out.

A household chores list, with how long each job actually takes

53 real household chores with honest timings and an effort rating for each — and the weekly total most families never add up. Use it as a starting list, or to settle an argument about what the housework actually costs.

How to split the mental load in your household

To split the mental load, share the thinking behind chores, not just the chores: make invisible work visible and hand over whole areas, noticing included.

The default parent: what it means and how to stop being the only one

The default parent is the one every reminder and last-minute problem lands on. Stop being the only one by handing your partner whole areas to own.

How to divide household chores fairly between partners

Divide household chores fairly by weighting each job by effort, not counting tasks, then share by preference and who's free — invisible work included.

A fair chore chart for couples that actually sticks

A fair chore chart for couples sticks when it lists invisible jobs, weights each by effort instead of counting, rotates the grim ones and resets weekly.

The invisible labour of running a home — and how to make it visible

The invisible labour of running a home is the remembering, planning and worrying behind chores. Make it visible: write it down and name who carries it.

Sharing the household when both parents work

When both parents work, share the household by who's genuinely free when, not a 50/50 task count: map your hours, own whole areas and keep one shared plan.

Reducing parental burnout by sharing the load

Reduce parental burnout by sharing the load, not trying harder: hand whole areas to another adult, drop standards where safe and protect real time off.

Sharing the load with a new baby

Sharing chores with a newborn: split nights by recovery not wakings, hand whole jobs over early, and renegotiate when leave ends — that is when the pattern sets.

The chore split when one parent is at home or part-time

When one parent is at home or part-time, the fair comparison is total hours on and off duty across the week — not who is employed. Childcare is work, so the at-home parent does more of the weekday housework, not all of it.

Sharing the load when one of you works shifts

Shift work breaks the usual way couples split the house: there is no 'evenings are mine', because some evenings you are at work and some mornings you are asleep. How to share it fairly by the rota, not by the week, and count the sleep after nights.

Couples

Resentment over housework: why it hurts and what to do about it

Resentment over housework is information, not a character flaw. Why it compounds, how to raise it without a row, and what changes once the split is measured.

My partner doesn't help around the house: what to do about it

If your partner doesn't help around the house, work through it in order: show the real workload, ask for whole areas, then stop absorbing what they drop.

Why you keep arguing about chores — and how to stop

Chore arguments repeat because you are both arguing from memory, and memory over-counts your own effort — here is how to settle the facts before the feelings.

Keeping a private diary as a parent

A few lines a day, kept for nobody but you, is one of the cheapest ways to notice how you are actually doing. Why it helps, how to keep it going when you have no time, and how to keep it genuinely private.

Children

A kids' birthday party checklist: the six-week countdown

Plan a children's birthday party with a six-week countdown covering the date, invitations, RSVPs, allergy checks, party bags and a running order for the day.

Organising after-school clubs: how to keep track of kids' activities

After-school clubs are a remembering problem, not a driving problem: keep track of kids' activities with one shared calendar, kit packed ahead and a fair rota.

School admin for parents: how to stay on top of it

Stay on top of school admin with one system: process each email once, put every date where both adults can see it, and give each deadline a named owner.

Kids & chores

Age-appropriate chores for kids: a by-age guide

Age-appropriate chores for kids: toddlers tidy toys, 6–8s make their bed, 9–12s cook simple meals and teenagers own a whole job from start to finish.

How to get kids to do chores without nagging

To get kids to do chores without nagging, tie each job to a moment that already happens, make the list visible and praise effort over perfection.

Money

How much pocket money by age: a UK guide

UK pocket money by age: roughly £1–£3 a week for ages 4–7, £3–£6 for 8–11 and £6–£12+ for teenagers. There's no official figure, so treat these as a start.

Money jars for kids: Spend, Save, Give and Invest

Money jars for kids split pocket money into Spend, Save, Give and Invest, so every coin has a job. Try 40% Spend, 30% Save, 20% Invest and 10% Give.

Should you pay kids for chores? A fair approach

Pay kids for bigger, optional chores, not the everyday jobs that come with family life. Everyone still pitches in, and extra work earns a reward.

Family planning

One shared family calendar: how to actually keep it

Keep one shared family calendar by making it the only place appointments live, with one app both adults sync, a colour each and a weekly look-ahead.

How to plan a fair school-run rota

To plan a fair school-run rota, map every drop-off and pick-up for the week, then share them by effort and who's genuinely free — not a flat 50/50 split.

Weekly family meal planning made simple

Weekly family meal planning made simple: pick theme nights, rotate meals everyone eats, write one shopping list from the plan and split the cooking.

Co-parenting schedule patterns: week-on/week-off, 2-2-3 and 50/50 in the UK

The co-parenting schedule patterns UK families actually use — week-on/week-off, 2-2-3, 2-2-5-5, alternate weekends and school-week/weekend splits — and what each one does to a week.

One calendar across two homes

Co-parenting works better with a narrow shared layer — handovers, school, medical, activities — than with a merged calendar. What to share, what to keep private, and how to make it hold.

Link your Google, Outlook or Apple calendar to Equal House

Find the secret iCal link for Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar and paste it into Equal House — without publishing your calendar to anyone. Step by step, plus how to revoke access.

How to connect Equal House to Claude or another AI assistant

Connect Equal House to Claude in a minute: in Claude, add a custom connector under Settings → Connectors, paste https://mcp.equal.house/mcp and sign in.

A family planner on your computer

Some planning is easier at a desk: the week laid out in a grid, the meals dragged between days, the shopping in aisles. How to run a family planner on a computer alongside the phones, and what is still better done on a phone.

Turn a spare screen into a family wall

A screen in the kitchen showing the family's day gets seen by everyone, without anyone opening an app. How to make one from an old laptop, tablet or monitor you already have, before you think about buying a wall display.

Switching apps

Moving from Cozi to Equal House, step by step

How to bring your Cozi calendar into the Equal House app as a live read-only link, move your lists across, invite the family and set up the children's sign-in — and what doesn't come with you.

Moving from FamilyWall to Equal House, step by step

How to bring your FamilyWall calendar into the Equal House app with its iCal link, move your lists and documents across, invite the family and set up the children's sign-in — and what Equal House doesn't replace.

Moving from Maple before it closes, step by step

Maple shuts down on 31 December 2026 and deletes its data. How to save what you need, bring your calendar into the Equal House app, re-create your lists and invite the family.

Moving from TimeTree to Equal House, step by step

TimeTree can't export its events, so here is the quickest honest way to bring a TimeTree family calendar into the Equal House app: what is already in Google or Apple, screenshots read by Magic Add, and the repeating dates added once.

Moving from Skylight Calendar to Equal House, step by step

How to bring a Skylight family calendar into the Equal House app through the Google or iCloud calendar behind it, move the chores, lists and meals across, and keep the screen on the wall if you like it.

Put it into practice

Equal House turns fair chore-sharing, a family calendar and pocket money into one shared plan. Free to start.

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