Lakeland Trends Report 2023: How domestic chores have changed as Nigella Lawson reveals she does not iron

English food writer and television cook Nigella Lawson is considered a domestic queen of sheer sophistication. However, recently she revealed there is one household chore she will never do – the ironing. During her BBC Radio 2 appearance with Zoe Ball, Ms Lawson, 63, revealed: "I steam, I don't iron. And as you can see, I'm not a particularly uncrumpled person in my natural state."

And she's apparently not the only one. Lakeland's 2023 Trends Report revealed that 30% of 18 to 34-year-olds don't own an iron. When asked why, a fifth said their clothes don't need ironing while another fifth said the chore was simply not important or they did not like it. 

But, according to the Lakeland Trends report, has the amount of domestic chores fallen? When it comes to food, many people have suffered at the hands of the cost of living crisis, and as a result, the report reveals that 61% of us have changed our cooking habits in some way. Millennials, in particular, have embraced batch cooking – with one in three making the most of the oven being on by cooking more than one dish at a time.

The report shows that 26% of people batch cook, and 17% of people have opted to use cheaper-to-run cooking appliances, with 15% of people replacing cooking devices to cook cheaper cuts. This is also the first year that more people have owned a microwave (88%) than an oven (87%). Five years ago, 88% owned an oven, and 83% owned a microwave. Cheaper to run and easier to squeeze into a small kitchen, they have become our go-to cooking device in an era when saving money and space have become all-important.

Air fryers have dominated the scene, as, since the start of 2023, the trendy device has outsold deep fat fryers by over 92 to one at Lakeland. Over the last year, 30% of households said they had invested in energy-saving gadgets, such as the air fryer, nearly doubling the 16% who said they’d done this in 2022. Sales of the family-sized dual basket air fryer grew by 163% in the first six months of 2023, compared to the six months it was available in 2022. Astonishingly, 45% of UK households now own an air fryer.

Britain’s air fryer hot spots are Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all areas where more than 50% of households say they have one. In Northern Ireland it is 55%. When asked which piece of cooking equipment people loved or relied upon the most, air fryers (22%) were only just pipped by ovens (26%). Among 35 to 44-year-olds, air fryers are *the* favourite cooking appliance, beating ovens and microwaves.

In terms of other chores, the report says people have been cutting down on laundry costs, with 38% of people saying they tried to cut down on using their tumble dryer since the cost of living crisis began. In Northern Ireland, that figure was 48% and in Wales it was 46%. Some people have opted to use a heated air dryer, with 30% of those under the age of 25 owning one, compared with a nationwide figure of 17%.