History Main / ChildrenDoTheHousework

* ''Film/{{Matilda}}'': In the film adaptation, [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Matilda]] [[WiseBeyondTheirYears Wormwood]] is shown teaching herself how to cook by the age of 5, since her parents forget about her and leave her alone for most of the day.

* In the children's series ''The English Roses'', the main characters are stunned when they discover their classmate Binah does ''all'' the cooking and cleaning at home. This is because her family is lower-income, and her father works around the clock to put food on the table. By the time he gets home, he's exhausted. Without a mother, siblings, or other relatives to help out, all the housework falls to Binah. Her father obviously feels bad about it, but she takes it with good grace.

* ''Literature/TheBridgeOfClay'': The Dunbar brothers basically raise themselves, since their mother died of cancer and then their father left them, which also means that they need to do all the household chores themselves.

** Matsuri has long [[RaisedByGrandparents lived with just his grandfather Seigen]], doing all the chores because Seigen is too elderly. This leads to a joke where Shirogane treats Matsuri making breakfast as a sign [[ThirdLawOfGenderBending turn Matsuri into a girl made him more feminine]], but Matsuri angrily insists he already did that as a boy. After Rochka is AdoptedToTheHouse, she's shown helping Matsuri with some chores--Une doesn't, presumably because [[FlyingFace she has no hands]].

** Matsuri has long [[RaisedByGrandparents lived with just his grandfather Seigen]], doing all the chores because Seigen is too elderly. This leads to a joke where Shirogane treats Matsuri making breakfast as a sign [[ThirdLawOfGenderBending turn Matsuri into a girl made him more feminine]], but Matsuri angrily insists he already did that as a boy.

* Ryuuji from ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' learned to be self-sufficient and how to cook, clean and sew since [[DisappearedDad his father died when he was young]] [[spoiler:(actually he abandoned Ryuuji's mother while she was pregnant)]] and his WomanChild mother works late at night at a [[HostClub hostess club]] and sleeps most of the day, leaving him to do the household chores.

This is common for MinorLivingAlone or PromotionToParent. It can also happen during a SickEpisode or InjuredLimbEpisode where the parents aren't physically capable to do the chores like usual and the children must temporarily take over responsibility of the house.

Sometimes, they're orphans who are forced to raise themselves. Other times, they do have at least one parent who works long hours and has no time to properly take care of the children, much less the house. It can also be that the parent is [[DelicateAndSickly ill]], [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] or just a [[LazyBum slob]] who can't do cleaning or cooking to save their life.

* In ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', because [[MissingMom her mother Kotoko's death]] and her father Ryouji/Ranka's long work hours, Haruhi Fujioka does most of the work at home, cleaning and cooking for Ryouji and otherwise trying to take care of him, even telling him not to overwork himself for her.

* Masane, the protagonist from ''Anime/{{Witchblade}}'' is an unemployed single mother and constant slacker who often wakes up late, with her six-year-old daughter Rihoko usually seen performing domestic tasks like cleaning, washing and making breakfast.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': In "Is There a Doctor in the House?", Mr. and Mrs. Read both catch colds, meaning that their two oldest children Arthur and D.W. have to do the chores and take care of the youngest one, Kate.

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* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Rena Ryuugu took up the household chores to take care of her depressed father ever since her mother ran off with another man.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The episode "Little Big Mom", Lisa does all the housework because her mother Marge's leg is broken and her father Homer is [[LazyBum too lazy to do the work]].

Note that this trope usually involves the children doing most or all of the household work, as distinguished from being assigned a moderate share chores to assist their parents and/or teach them useful skills and habits.

''Literature/OliverTwist'': In Mrs. Mann's "baby farm", all housework is (illegally) done by the kids, whereas Mrs. Mann doesn't do anything ''and'' receives compensation for taking in the children.

* ''Film/{{Matilda}}'': In the film adaptation, [[PrecociousChild Matilda Wormwood]] is shown teaching herself how to cook, since her parents forget about her and leave her alone for most of the day.

* ''Film/{{Matilda}}'': In the film adaptation, [[KidGenius Matilda Wormwood]] is shown teaching herself how to cook, since her parents leave her alone for most of the day.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/Persona4'': Nanako Dojima tends to do quite a few chores at home while her single father is out doing police work, such as cooking breakfast (though mainly just eggs and toast) and the laundry.