NOT all of us share Kylie Minogue's love of housework, but if women were paid for all those menial chores like washing the dishes and ironing the other half's underpants, they would earn a good income at least!

For according to a new report, cooking, cleaning, dusting, looking after the children, are expensive tasks.

Research for Sainsbury's Bank* has shown that women do more than £17,400 worth of unpaid work around the home each year. It amounts to an average of 277 minutes of unpaid work every day, including spending 71 minutes a day cooking and washing up.

Michele Ascough of St Leonards near Ringwood, thinks that women should be paid for doing the housework.

"I don't think people realise the value of housework - especially men! It's an important job and one that needs to be done everyday. I think £7 an hour would be about right!

"Men don't have a clue how much time and effort goes into keeping a house clean. I do all the housework. The only time my husband tidies up is when he's looking for something!

"I do it all - even when I worked full-time. The one time he tidied up the kitchen it looked as though he had wiped the surfaces with a cloth dipped in lard so I had to do it all again anyway!"

Mother of five-year-old twins Amanda Peach from Charminster used to be a full time mum but now works part-time at a local bookshop.

"I do think housework is undervalued. You work long hours and you don't get a day off. Your day starts as soon as the children get up and it doesn't end at 5.30pm - you keep going into the evening. It's not particularly rewarding either because you usually have to start all over again the next day!

"It would be nice to be paid to do the housework but I don't know how it would work in practice. Maybe there should be tax incentives to encourage more women to stay at home."

David Pickett, life insurance manager at Sainsbury's Bank, said: "Women are increasingly returning to work while retaining the bulk of the responsibility for managing the home and raising the children.

"Unfortunately, the value of work around the home is often overlooked. Last year we found that mothers in full time work with children under the age of 18 were so busy they only had four hours a week to themselves.

"However, we estimate that men also do around £11,900 worth of unpaid work a year."

A spokeswoman for the Wages for Housework Campaign believes women should be paid £500 to £600 per week.

"We also want the acknowledgement from society that the work we are doing is fundamental and important."

According to relationship psychotherapist Paula Hall, housework is one of the most common causes of arguments.

"It may seem like a trivial thing to fall out about but some couples are willing to pay for counselling to sort it out.

"Tidiness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Each of us is brought up with a different view of what's an acceptable mess."

* Research based on a report carried out by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Essex University.

Avoiding housework hassles

Take time to sit down and talk about how housework was handled when you were growing up. Talk about how this has affected your attitudes.

Do you share the same tolerance for untidiness? If not sit down and negotiate a standard you can both live with.

Look at your current housework arrangements. Are they fair and equal? If not agree on a workload you are both happy with.

Think about whether your arguments about housework aren't actually about something else.