London, Aug 29 - Women may have come a long way from being mere housewives to hotshot yuppies, but have men gone to being housekeepers rather than just breadwinners? Apparently not, as a new study proves that the theory of 'New Man' is a lie.

A University of Michigan study has shown that the number of hours wives spend on chores has fallen from 19.5 a week to 14.5, but that's because of technology - vacuum cleaners and dishwashers.

Husbands, on the other hand, do an average of seven hours a week of housework.

Some 26 per cent of wives now earn more than husbands - up from 15 per cent in 1980. Those earning 50 per cent more have doubled to nine per cent.

"There is something about the experience of being a wife, as opposed to a husband, that causes even high-earning wives to spend considerably more time on housework than their husbands," The Daily Mail quoted researchers Alexandra Killewald and Margaret Gough as saying. (ANI)