Housewife Tio Hui Siang, 54, has given up asking son Jonathan Tan, 15, to help out around the house. When he wants a cup of Milo, he just asks for it, and mum makes it for him at once.

'I tried asking him to do everything on his own but he can be stubborn and lazy, so I am letting him be now,' she says.

Indeed, Straits Times reader, pastor Loke Parc Sen, 45, wrote to the Forum page recently lamenting that 'many children today grow up in homes where they are not required to do anything'.

His comments were in response to a report on Singaporeans shunning service jobs.

'The real underlying reason is that Singaporeans feel it is below their dignity to serve others,' the father of three said in his letter.

However, a poll of 250 youths by LifeStyle shows that contrary to the image of slacker teens not lifting a finger around the home, the majority do help out with chores.

Those surveyed were aged from 13 to 20 and they were asked what chores they did from a list of 10, which included mopping or sweeping the floor, making the bed and washing the dishes.

A total of 170 said they did chores. Another 35 said they do them occasionally, while 45 youths said they do not help around the home at all.

The most popular chores included getting their own drink, getting their own meals, frying an egg and making the bed.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Sandy Goh, 19, says she does these chores 'even though there is a maid at home to do them'.

Joey Hwang, 16, a student from CHIJ Toa Payoh, says: 'I do chores at home even though we have a part-time maid. It is necessary to help out because it trains me to be self-reliant.'

Read the full story in today's edition of The Sunday Times.

Additional reporting by Natasha Ann Zachariah, Nur Shakylla Saifudin and Fiona Low