The role of women as the primary shoppers for their households hasn't changed much, according to a study sponsored by the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA).
In the study titled “Today’s Primary Shopper”, more than 1,000 women were surveyed about their grocery-shopping and meal-preparation habits, in addition to the division of responsibilities in their households. All of the women were pre-qualified as the primary shopper for their household, according to PLMA.
The study found that two-thirds or more of respondents said they handled the bulk of the grocery shopping for the family and are most often the exclusive preparer of meals for the household. Three quarters of those surveyed said they make a list before shopping, and 53 percent said they clip coupons and watch for specials on items they need.
Sixty-one percent of respondents said they make a least five meals per week at home, and another 64 percent often use fresh ingredients in their meals, according to the study.
The PLMA study also found that:
• 45 percent of women in the PLMA study said they are frequent buyers of store brands, compared to 3 percent who said they never buy store brands.
• 36.1 percent of respondents said they put together a meal from packages or canned goods "somewhat often" compared to 24.1 percent of respondents who said they very often prepared meals this way.
• When asked how often they brought home a ready-made or heat-and-serve meal from the store, 42.7 percent said not very often, while 28.9 percent said never.
• 50.7 percent of women surveyed responded "not very often" when asked how often they ordered food in or picked up takeout meals to serve at home. Only 8.1 percent of respondents said they very often brought home takeout meals.
Traditional housekeeping roles still fall to women. A majority of respondents said they were responsible for laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning house and stocking the medicine cabinet, while a spouse or someone else took care of garden work and household repairs.
