Rhiannon Ingle
One mum has decided 'enough is enough' and made the bold move to walk out on her family.
Channel 5 has just dropped a brand-new series, Wife on Strike, which started yesterday (6 November) all about shining a light on some of the UK's most unequal households, where one partner - usually the woman - is taking on more of the domestic load than anyone else in the home.
In one episode, 37-year-old mum-of-five Laura Bensalem, from Greenwich, South East London, revealed she woke up at 4:30am every morning to start chores and has decided to leave her family behind to try and muscle through one week without her help. Have a look:
"I try to please everybody, I can’t use that word 'no', I don't know if that’s just who I am," Laura revealed.
The Bensalem family, made up of Laura and her husband of 16 years, Wassim, plus their five kids, as well as Laura’s parents and two dogs all live together.
Advert
However, the domestic load falls entirely to Laura who caters, taxi’s and generally looks after the household.
She explained that she usually makes a minimum of 'two different dishes' which drives her 'up the wall' because her family all have different dinner preferences.
"They all eat differently, or they won’t eat their dinner and I can't leave them without anything," she went on.
Advert
Talking about Wassim, Laura added: "As soon as he comes home from work he goes straight upstairs… Wassim doesn’t do much, he doesn’t cook, he doesn't clean, he doesn't hoover, he doesn’t make the bed, he doesn’t do the washing, he doesn't do the drying, he doesn't put the clothes away."
Talking about the housework, the tired mum added: "It’s not even physically… it’s mentally draining.
"I’ve really had enough. I’m sick and tired of all the work that I keep doing. Putting others first,…I need to see some changes before I can return."
Advert
In a dramatic turn of events, Laura announced to her household that she would be leaving and that Wassim would now be forced to step up.
Until that point, Laura had been sorting the meals, school drop-off's, taking Wassim to the train station as well as cleaning, hoovering, dog walking and keeping on top of the washing.
Without Laura at home to sort all of those vital tasks needed to keep a family afloat, Wassim tries his hand at juggling it all.