In this article the authors analyse attitudes that emerged from a major international survey of adolescents' views about children's involvement in household work. The focus of the paper is on the differences both between and within cultures in adolescents' ideas about when children should begin work in the home, the value of household work for children and whether or not such work should be paid. Comparisons are made between six countries (Australia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden and the USA) and between genders, on two kinds of household tasks - self care and family care. Of particular interest is the picture that emerges of Australian adolescents; it is a picture that in many ways reflects general cultural values and that emerges as different from the views of adolescents in other countries.