Study after study indicates that American women continue to do most of the household chores.

But now that some companies have embraced family-friendly work policies, has the balance of responsibility for those tedious jobs that nobody likes shifted to men?

Studies from the University of Cincinnati suggest that responsibility for those duties - we're talking about dishwashing, laundry and cleaning, not stirring up a pot of chocolate pudding - have not appreciably shifted to the man of the house.

Neither have conditions worsened for women.

Instead, sociologists found while wives who work appreciate family-friendly policies like flextime, it's not because the man is doing any more around the house.

The policies mean that women have more time for those glamorous jobs like hauling kids to soccer practice.

The woman is probably doing less and family-friendly policies mean that the man is doing less, too. Sarah Beth Estes, UC assistant professor of sociology, collaborated with David Maume, director of the Kunz Center for Work and Family and a UC professor of sociology.

The husbands' decreased share is linked with higher shares of household labor performed by "others."

It is not clear who these "others" might be, Estes says, but it's probably hired help, children or parents.

Estes will present the full study today at the American Sociological Association annual meeting in Atlanta.

Looking and leaping

Think you know about high stakes and risk?

In the fabulous book Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity, author David Whyte describes how albatrosses learn to fly.

Like most birds, they leap. But albatross fledglings need wind to achieve lift in that first perilous freefall. Without it, the young birds plunge to their death.

That's what Whyte saw one day when he was on an expedition to be a nature observer at a Galapagos Island aerie. There was no wind. Not a breeze stirred the waves. And bird after bird waddled to the edge of the cliff and jumped into the void.

Bird after bird ended up on the rocks or in the churning surf - shark food.

"Their white bodies smashed into jutting lava, littering the whole length of the shoreline," Whyte says. "All that growing had come to nothing."

The lesson for an entrepreneur is simple: Before you leap into a new business or initiative, first make sure there is an economic wind to give your company some lift.

Carryout quote

Ever heard this in real life?

"Yeeeeahh, I'm gonna need you to come in on Saturday. We lost a few people - need to sorta play catch-up. Greeaaat..."

Bill Lumberg, the boss in the movie Office Space

Appt./Mr. Green

Devou Park Golf Course through August is offering a great discount for executives who want to sneak in a quick 18 holes. The course is offering a full round for $9 for anybody teeing off before 10 a.m. Monday-Thursday.

The cart is extra, and be careful with it, too, as Devou is a hilly course. Last week somebody ran a cart so far down into a gully that a winch broke trying to haul it back up.

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E-mail at jeckberg@enquirer.com