More than eight out of ten of the women business owners polled were expected to cook the family's evening meal, while 72.8% were in charge of the laundry.

Just 10.8% said their partners cooked the dinner or looked after the children - even though 40% of the women surveyed were the sole breadwinners in their household.

The study was carried out by financial management software firm Intuit, which found that the majority of female business owners who responded to the survey were in the 35-45 age group.