That's because those socks on the floor are probably mine; I can't fold a towel with the proper polish to save my life; and the chances of the sink filling up with dirty dishes on my watch are remarkably good.

Still, despite my below average acumen for household chores, men are steadily increasing their domestic chops.

According to a new study, we testosterone types have jumped our duties around the house from 15 percent to 30 percent since the 1960s. Drs. Scott Coltrane and Oriel Sullivan will present their findings next month in Chicago at the 11th Annual Conference of the Council on Contemporary Families.

A separate study at the University of Michigan pegged the average hourly household work rates in 2005 at 17 a week for women and 13 for men, compared to 26 and six in 1976.

While I have a sneaking suspicion women already know this, the same study concluded that having a husband creates seven hours of household work a week for a woman. Wives, conversely, save men an hour a week. Add kids and women's averages go up.

If you're keeping score at home, consider the obvious: single men and women cooked and cleaned in numbers of hours far fewer than married couples, not having and holding apparently a household duty time saver.

Still, what's undeniable OK, maybe not at my house, according to my very wise wife is that men are chugging up chore charts.

Coltrane and Sullivan found that while the total number of hours of work (paid jobs and family) has remained about the same for men and women since the 1960s, the sexes are moving toward each other. "Women's paid work time has significantly increased, while that of men has decreased. Correspondingly, women's time devoted to housework has decreased, while the time men spend in family work of all kinds has increased."

Felix, Oscar

OK, OK, nobody said men and women are equal in household chores. They may never be, but progress is being made on home fire equity.

True equality may be impossible, however, not so much in quantity but rather in quality, my standard and methodology for cleaning the kitchen floor, for example, far different from those of my wife. Sure, plenty of Felix Ungers populate my gender, far more, I suspect than the number of Oscar Madisons among women.

Among Coltrane and Sullivan's numbers, one is a true positive. Men's biggest gain among household duties was child care, which tripled from 1965 to 2003. Never have fathers in two-parent households spent more time with their children in care and interaction.

Double the good news is that the added time men now spend with their children does not come at the expense of mothers, who have doubled the time they spend with their kids since 1965.

Balancing the chores brings health to the marriage, too. Coltrane and Sullivan said a 2007 study indicated that "couples in the (U.S.) who have more equal divisions of labor are less likely to divorce than couples where one partner specializes in breadwinning and the other partner specializes in family work."

Men, increased domestication may provide other positive utility as well. In a 2003 article, Coltrane cited research by Dr. John Gottman at the University of Washington which concluded that when men pitched in more at home, their wives "may be more likely to get 'in the mood.'" Suddenly, the laundry basket and the dust mop take on entirely new meaning.

'Family friendly'

Many women may argue with numbers the research shows.

And Coltrane and Sullivan do find a tarnished bit of silver among the lining of this slow march of millions of men and women. The researchers conclude that "progress in getting employers to accommodate workers' [behavior change] has been less encouraging."

They said that unless a state or a business has "family friendly" policies, many men and women who want to share the duties of home and the rearing of children may be hard-pressed to find the time outside of paid work to do so.

Still, the news is good.

I might even pick up my socks, to raise my gender's percentage even higher.

Or not.

* * *

Geography surprise

In Friday's column, I struck out when I referred to Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals as "fit and tan from training in Florida." The Royals have spring training in surprise! Surprise, Arizona.

As they occasionally say in Surprise in the spring: My bad.