any housewives out there?

Red-Squirrel_2

fibonarchie wrote: »

They employ a cleaner, stick the child/ren into childcare and generally hire people to do the jobs that would have been done by the housewife.

Or they just don't bother doing much housework or cooking and leave the kids to their own devices Something has to give.

Do you really believe this?

I think part of your research into this topic should include spending a week shadowing a ‘housewife’ with two primary school aged children and then a week shadowing a full time working woman on an average salary with children the same age.

Then you might have a bit more understanding of the subject.

blindman

fibonarchie wrote: »

Experts have done the sums, and it appears that if housewives were actually paid for what they do (namely, childcare, cleaning, etc) their annual salary would be in the region of £48k

Bloke here :cool:

We have been married 41 years:eek:

My wife has looked after our two children, cleaned the house, cooked and has worked locally whenever she could at the various RAF stations across the world.

Her salary:- My undying love and devotion.

I have provided
Diy skills
Gardening
Chauffeur
Financier
Travel agent
Lover
Emotional support

My salary:- Her undying love.

Priceless.

No "expert" could evaluate the price of true love.

Red-Squirrel_2

fibonarchie wrote: »

Yes, but is that sustainable? Effectively doing 2 jobs. Is that what the feminist movement wanted for women?

It would help if men did their fair share of domestic work, all the research shows that most don’t.

jackomdj

We both work, OH is often away during the week so just me running around after the children, taking them to Guides, netball, rookie lifeguards. Tidying the house, doing the dishes, doing the washing etc.
In my experience, with my group of friends and family, it is the families who both work, who then go on to keep (without help usually) the house clean and tidy, and the children do lots of activities. You make your choices in life, I choose to work, which enables us to have a financially more comfortable life style, it means I can give my children opportunities they would not have if I was t working. But I can't stand a messy house, so wouldn't want it to be messy and dirty just because I work.

Kynthia

fibonarchie wrote: »

They employ a cleaner, stick the child/ren into childcare and generally hire people to do the jobs that would have been done by the housewife.

Or they just don't bother doing much housework or cooking and leave the kids to their own devices Something has to give.

You have very strange views of working parents. I don't know any that have their children in childcare for longer than their working hours and commute, so everything outside work or in the home will still need to be done while also looking after the children but after having also worked. Most jobs can't be hired out so you still need to take the children to the doctors, dentist, hairdresser, clubs, clothes/shoe shopping, etc. Dinner still needs cooking, clothes still need washing, holidays still need researching and booking, banking, bills and paperwork still needs sorting and the children's homework still needs monitoring. Not all get cleaners and those that do only save themselves one or two hours a week, and I'm sure more cleaning and tidying is needed when there are children. I don't know anyone with school-age children that uses an ironing service and most still do their own decorating. Do you live in an area where most can outsource all these tasks or did you say that without thinking about it in detail?

I'm not saying being a stay at home parent is easier as it's hard in a different way and people are all different with regards to what they find easier, enjoy more, are better at, etc. Plus those who don't work tend to have less income coming in and therefore spend more time reducing their outgoings and making a little money. They use their time to research better deals, cook more meals from scratch which can be cheaper, go to more shops to find better prices meaning the food shop takes longer, mend things, bake instead of buy, visit charity shops to find bargains, take the time to eBay low value items to make a little money, etc. Probably lots of things working parents don't have the time to do. Not everyone has a choice as to which they are but at the end of the day most of us are working hard in some way and we're all just trying to do our best.

sheepy21

I'm 27 and a proud housewife :j people think it's sitting about doing nothing, but it isn't. I'm at home with our son, which believe me is a full time job :rotfl: and then there's running the house, shopping etc. I know I'm very lucky to be able to stay at home, but it works well for us and I've been much happier not working

Marvel1

Single (no kids) working full time bloke here, running the house, food shopping, ironing, washing (is a !!!!!! looking at the weather in evenings for next day - sun great, wash on - morning oh great rain and vice versa!)

Parcel deliveries - thank christ for Amazon lockers - if a company uses Yodel, Hermes etc then forget it.

Day off for someone to come around to install something, wonderful!

Hard? No, a pain? Yes.

thriftyemma

I don't call myself a housewife. Firstly, I'm not married. And secondly, even if I was, I'm certainly not married to the house! I proudly call myself a stay at home mum to three primary aged children.

It is a demanding, full time job. I just roughly added up how much time I spend doing 'household' and 'children' related tasks, and it adds up to around 35-40 hours a week! Even if I was paid minimum wage, I'd be earning a hell of a lot more than I do now. And I know there are plenty of families where both parents work, I do wonder how. To each their own, I am glad I had the luxury of choosing whether or not I stayed at home.

I think the point should be to highlight that who ever does the caregiving, who ever does the household tasks, we should value them and appreciate their work. It's not a cop out, or a cushy job. Neither is working the traditional 9-5. Each family should do what works for them, and neither stay at home parents nor working parents should be made to feel any less of themselves.

trailingspouse

I've been studying my family tree for several years, and have managed to get quite a long way back. The jobs recorded for married women make intersting reading.



Things I've noticed -

- the further back you go, the less likely any job at all is recorded for a married woman
- sometimes the husband's job is included eg 'farmer's wife', 'fisherman's wife'. This isn't as awful as it might sound to us today. The wife of a farmer had specific tasks to do, ditto the wife of a fisherman - they were unpaid, but were an integral part of running a farm or running a fishingboat.
- the term 'housewife' wasn't much used before the 1950's
- in the 1939 census (UK) the job was recorded as 'unpaid domestic duties'
- in other countries, other phrases were used (eg in Australia it was 'home duties')
- there is no retirement. Women in their 70's and 80's are still recorded as 'housewife' (or whatever the phrase in use at the time might have been).


It's an interesting subject.

[Deleted User]

sheepy21 wrote: »

I'm 27 and a proud housewife :j people think it's sitting about doing nothing, but it isn't. I'm at home with our son, which believe me is a full time job :rotfl: and then there's running the house, shopping etc. I know I'm very lucky to be able to stay at home, but it works well for us and I've been much happier not working

Snap, I'm doing a full time job looking after house and child. I also volunteer but always check housewife and am happy to do so.