Percentage who later regret each choice. Bars and full ledger render below.
Lifestyle
Last reviewed 2026-04-26
Evidence quality 4.13/5
Eight-dimension review score against the
quality rubric
. Each dimension scored 1–5.
D1 Source verification
5/5
D2 Source authority & independence
4/5
D3 Regret-rate accuracy
2/5
D4 Source comparability
3/5
D5 Gilovich pattern
5/5
D6 Prose quality
5/5
D7 Caveat completeness
5/5
D8 Sample quality
4/5
Average4.13/5
Proxy data — no direct regret survey exists for this decision. Rates are derived from satisfaction scores and access-barrier data rather than questions that directly asked about regret. See caveats below.
Action regret
Hiring cleaning help
9.0%
No direct regret survey exists; time-saving spending raised happiness on average across income levels, so action-regret is treated as low (nominal well-being proxy, not a surveyed rate)
Working adults, US/Canada/Denmark/Netherlands
retrospective, no fixed timeframe
Inaction regret
Cleaning yourself
50%
~50% of affluent households spend nothing outsourcing disliked tasks despite being able to afford it (behavioral non-use proxy, not a regret survey)
Dutch millionaires and working adults, 4 countries
retrospective, no fixed timeframe
% who regret this choice
Hiring cleaning helpCleaning yourself
9.0%50%
inaction dominates — Inaction dominates — most regret not acting.
Related decisions
Semantically similar decisions — same territory, different trade-offs.
Among Dutch millionaires — people for whom cost is irrelevant — just
under half spent nothing on outsourcing disliked tasks, according to
Whillans et al.’s PNAS study. That non-outsourcing fraction is the closest
available proxy for inaction in this domain: roughly half of those who
could easily afford to outsource cleaning choose not to. Importantly, the
paper does not report that non-outsourcers have lower life satisfaction —
it reports a positive association for those who do buy time, so the 50%
here is a behavioral non-use figure, not a measured regret rate. On the
action side, Whillans et al. surveyed 6,271 working adults across four
countries and found that those who spent on time-saving services reported
higher life satisfaction; a field experiment gave 60 adults $40 to spend
on a time-saving purchase one weekend and a material purchase the next,
and the time-saving weekend produced higher positive affect (mean 4.00
vs 3.71 on the SPANE scale, d=0.33). The benefit was not moderated by
income or wealth (Z=−0.35, P=0.729), and subsequent research found that
time-saving spending also improved relationship satisfaction regardless of
whether the specific purchase was practical or indulgent.
The paradox is that almost nobody acts on this. When 98 working adults were
asked how they would spend a $40 windfall, only 2% chose time-saving.
Among 818 Dutch millionaires — people for whom cost is irrelevant — nearly
half spent nothing on outsourcing disliked tasks in a typical month. Trübner
(2024) catalogued the barriers in a German sample of 1,479 couples: guilt
about perceived laziness, gendered expectations that housework is a domestic
duty, privacy concerns about strangers in the home, and discomfort with
anything resembling “servant culture.” These are psychological barriers, not
economic ones, and they track cleanly with Gilovich’s inaction-dominance
pattern: people forgo a well-documented happiness gain, and the status quo
persists because the cost of inaction is diffuse and invisible.
The caveat worth flagging is that this entry measures well-being and
behavior, not regret. The evidence shows that buying time tends to raise
happiness; it does not show that people who clean their own homes feel
worse off, and it certainly does not measure whether they regret the
choice — some genuinely prefer the routine, the exercise, or the sense of
control. The rates here are proxies, not direct survey findings, and the
ratio between the two sides should be read as a well-being-and-behavior
asymmetry rather than a regret asymmetry in the strict Gilovich sense. The directional finding
is clear: outsourcing time-draining tasks improves well-being for most people
who try it. Whether not doing so constitutes “regret” depends on how much
you trust revealed preferences over stated ones.
Sources: action
Claim ledger
Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.
1/2 sources independently verified verbatim against the cited source
In a field experiment (n=60), working adults reported greater end-of-day positive affect after a time-saving purchase (mean 4.00) than a material one (mean 3.71), t(59)=2.57, P=0.007, d=0.33; the benefit was not moderated by income or wealth (Z=-0.35, P=0.729)
Excerpt
“"Using large, diverse samples from the United States, Canada, Denmark, and The Netherlands (n = 6,271), we show that individuals who spend money on time-saving services report greater life satisfaction. A field experiment provides causal evidence that working adults report greater happiness after spending money on a time-saving purchase than on a material purchase."
”
Source data from
2017-08-08
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
Whillans et al. surveyed 6,271 adults across four countries and ran a field experiment with 60 working adults spending $40 on a time-saving vs a material purchase on consecutive weekends. The time-saving weekend produced higher positive affect (4.00 vs 3.71 on the SPANE, d=0.33), and the effect did not vary by income or wealth (Z=-0.35, P=0.729). The paper reports a positive well-being effect, not a regret rate or a "no-gain" fraction; the study did not survey regret about hiring cleaning help. The display rate is a well-being proxy, not a surveyed regret figure (see proxy_only and caveats). The study included cleaning, cooking, and errand outsourcing as time-saving categories.
[2]Harvard Business School Working Knowledge — Why Outsourcing Chores Is Good for Your Relationship
Verified
Reference source
Couples who spent money to save time reported greater relationship satisfaction regardless of whether the purchase was practical or fun
Excerpt
“"It didn't matter if they bought products or services or if they paid for a practical service like Instacart or a fun treat like gourmet takeout — they still reported greater relationship satisfaction if they spent money to save time."
”
Source data from
2023-05-15
Accessed
2026-04-26
Verification
Excerpt independently re-fetched and confirmed word-for-word against the cited source during our grounding audit.
Calculation
HBS research building on Whillans's earlier work. Extends the finding from individual happiness to relationship satisfaction, strengthening the case that outsourcing domestic tasks produces broad well-being gains. The effect was consistent across income levels and purchase types.
Sources: inaction
Claim ledger
Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.
Just under half of the 818 surveyed Dutch millionaires — people for whom cost is no barrier — spent no money outsourcing disliked tasks; across samples, those who bought time reported greater life satisfaction
Excerpt
“"Despite the potential benefits of buying time, many respondents allocated no discretionary income to buying time, even when they could afford it: just under half of the 818 millionaires that we surveyed spent no money outsourcing disliked tasks."
”
Source data from
2017-08-08
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
The ~50% inaction display is anchored to a real BEHAVIORAL fraction: just under half of the 818 Dutch millionaires — people with no financial barrier — spent no money outsourcing disliked tasks. The paper does NOT report that non-outsourcers had lower life satisfaction; it reports a positive association for those who bought time. The display therefore states the measured construct (the non-outsourcing fraction among the financially able), not a surveyed regret rate. Many non-outsourcers genuinely prefer cleaning themselves, so this is a proxy, not direct regret (see proxy_only and caveats).
[2]International Journal of Consumer Studies / Trübner — Sociocultural barriers to outsourcing housework: Unraveling the non-use of domestic services
Peer-reviewed
Guilt, perceived laziness, and gendered norms are the primary sociocultural barriers preventing households from outsourcing housework even when they can afford it
Excerpt
“"Demand for paid domestic services is low, even for households with sufficient financial resources. Women are significantly more likely to be personal and complete rejectors of outsourcing than men, confirming expectations about gendered attitudes toward outsourcing."
”
Source data from
2024-01-15
Accessed
2026-04-26
Calculation
Trübner (2024) surveyed 1,479 German cohabiting couples who had not used domestic services. Five distinct barrier profiles were identified, with guilt and perceived laziness as dominant factors. This explains why the inaction rate remains high even among affluent households — the barrier is psychological, not financial.
Caveats
PROXY WARNING: Neither rate is a direct regret measurement, and no published survey asks people whether they regret hiring (or not hiring) a cleaner. The Whillans PNAS study measured life satisfaction and positive affect from time-saving purchases generally (meal delivery, cleaning, errands), not cleaning in isolation. The 9% action rate is NOT a surveyed figure: the paper reports a positive well-being effect, not a "no-gain" or regret fraction, so the low action rate is a nominal placeholder for "buying time helped on average." The 50% inaction rate is a behavioral non-use fraction — just under half of the 818 Dutch millionaires spent nothing outsourcing disliked tasks despite being able to afford it. The paper does NOT report that these non-outsourcers had lower life satisfaction; equating "chose not to outsource" with "regret" overstates the evidence. proxy_only is set on this entry for that reason. No published survey was found that directly asks "do you regret hiring/ not hiring a cleaner?" Many people genuinely prefer doing their own housework and report no regret. The Trübner barriers study is German, not US, and cultural attitudes toward domestic help vary substantially. Self-selection bias is present on both sides: people who hire cleaners may be dispositionally happier, and people who refuse may value self- reliance in ways that offset any well-being cost. The 5.6:1 ratio should be read as a well-being asymmetry, not a regret asymmetry in the strict Gilovich sense. The primary well-being data are drawn from United States and Western European samples; satisfaction and regret rates in countries with different institutional structures — consumer norms, domestic labour costs, and attitudes toward hired help — may differ substantially.
