The term housewife!

Seakay

This was on the news?

Apart from any thing else it was discussed for weeks on end by DLT in the 1980's when he promoted the alternative "Domestic Engineer"

Also, what with death, flooding and the economy in this country plus riots, war, starvation etc in various other bits of the world I'm surprised that anyone considered this discussion about semantics newsworthy enough to bump other items in order to create space for it

Goldiegirl

I work two days a week, but if asked 'what do you do?' I always say 'finance officer' rather than 'housewife'.

I think this comes from a life time of full time work, where you tend to define yourself by your job.

I suppose I could call myself 'semi retired' as I am in receipt of a pension, but that always seems to imply that I'm older than I am!

I don't think there's any shame or stigma being a housewife or househusband. It's more important to live your life the way that is right for you, and many people would like to be able to spend more time at home.

sonastin

I'd love to be a housewife. Trouble is my fiance doesn't earn a wage at the moment while he is full-time renovating our house. One of us has to bring the pennies and as I can't lay bricks or replace floor joists - or even hold a screwdriver properly for that matter - but I can earn enough to pay the mortgage, I get the fun of going to work every day.

When the renovation is finished, I think he gets to be the househusband because I'll always have more earning power than him. But at least I won't have to do the cleaning any more!