What the research really says about kids and chores

The claim you have probably seen

It shows up in parenting articles, school newsletters and social media posts: children who do chores grow up to be more successful, happier adults. Often it comes with a line about a famous Harvard study.

There is real research behind the idea that chores are good for kids, but it is thinner than the headlines suggest, and the Harvard part is a misattribution. Here is what the studies actually say, so you can decide how much weight to give them.

The Minnesota study: chores from ages three and four

The study quoted most often comes from Marty Rossmann, a family education professor at the University of Minnesota, and dates from 2002. She analyzed data from an earlier long-running study that followed 84 children at four points in their lives: in preschool, around ages 10 and 15, and in their mid-twenties.

She reported that young adults who began chores at ages three and four were more likely to have good relationships with family and friends, to have done well in school and early in their careers, and to be self-sufficient, compared with those who had no chores or started them as teenagers.

It is a finding worth knowing about, with limits that are worth knowing too:

• It followed 84 children, a small group to draw conclusions about every family.
• It is an observational study. It shows that early chores and later outcomes tend to go together, not that chores caused the outcomes.
• Parents who give a three year old a job may differ from other parents in many ways, such as how warm, consistent or structured they are. Those other differences could explain some of the result.

The “Harvard study” that is not about chores

You will often see this finding credited to Harvard. The usual route is a 2016 TED talk by Julie Lythcott-Haims, a former Stanford dean, in which she mentions the Harvard Grant Study, a famous project that has followed a group of people since 1938 and is now called the Harvard Study of Adult Development, and says that professional success comes from having done chores as a kid.

We could not find a published Harvard paper on chores, and at least one write-up that traced the claim back did not find one either. The Rossmann study is the research that is usually cited in support of the idea. It is a University of Minnesota study, and it did not come from the Harvard project. When you see “a Harvard study found that chores…”, treat it with caution.

A larger study: chores in kindergarten

A newer study, published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, surveyed the parents of nearly 10,000 US kindergarteners and followed up when the children were in third grade. Children whose parents said they did more chores in kindergarten scored higher on academic ability, peer relationships and life satisfaction later on.

It is a much larger group than the Minnesota study, which is a point in its favor. It is still a survey, so it carries the same caution: it shows an association, and the reasons behind it could be mixed.

Chores and thinking skills

A 2022 study in the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal looked at 207 children aged 5 to 13, some neurotypical and some with conditions such as autism, ADHD or dyslexia. Parents answered questions about which chores their children did. Children who did more chores for themselves and for the family tended to do better on measures of working memory and inhibition, which are the skills behind remembering several steps and stopping to think before acting.

The results were stronger for self-care and family chores than for pet care, which showed no link. It measures association, not cause. The authors suggested that complex jobs such as cooking may be especially useful, and said that needs testing in children.

What this adds up to

The studies point the same way, but none of them proves that giving a child a chore will make their life go better. A fair summary is:

• Children who do regular household jobs tend to do well on a range of measures, from school to friendships to thinking skills.
• Starting young seems to be linked with the best results, though “young” here means three or four, which is earlier than many families begin.
• Nobody knows how much is due to the chores themselves, and how much to the kind of family that gives them.

There are also plenty of reasons to ask for help at home that do not depend on any study. The house needs running, children enjoy being capable, and learning to cook, clean and take care of a space is useful for life.

How to use this without pressure

It would be easy to read all this as a deadline: if your child is eight, have you missed the window? No study says that, and the Minnesota result should not be read as a verdict on any individual family. Starting at any age beats not starting, and a thirteen year old who learns to do their own laundry is still gaining something real.

If you want a practical place to start, look at what suits your child’s age on our chores by age pages, and read how to start a chore chart that sticks. For jobs that teach a skill, not just tidiness, see the life skills kids learn through chores.

Sources and further reading

• Cornell University, Evidence-Based Living: Research confirms that chores are good for kids
• ADDitude: Chores for kids may improve executive functioning skills (Tepper, Howell and Bennett, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 2022)
• The Billfold: Chores, then and now (a summary of the Rossmann study, 2015)
• Piccalio: The Harvard study on chores, untangling the research