any housewives out there?

Kayalana99

I believe cop out was used in the sense that people say they are doing a full-time job by staying home with the kids. Yes kids do require a lot of 'work' and you could class it as a full time job if you start nit picking saying you are 'on call' 24 hours a day, but the reality is it isn't as time consuming as some seem to preach.

It's perfectly acceptable (in my eyes), but lets be realistic about it a stay at home mum is not a busy person....unless they have 4-5+ kids I suppose...

happyandcontented

Kayalana99 wrote: »

I believe cop out was used in the sense that people say they are doing a full-time job by staying home with the kids. Yes kids do require a lot of 'work' and you could class it as a full time job if you start nit picking saying you are 'on call' 24 hours a day, but the reality is it isn't as time consuming as some seem to preach.

It's perfectly acceptable (in my eyes), but lets be realistic about it a stay at home mum is not a busy person....unless they have 4-5+ kids I suppose...

I think the OP above yours has made the point quite succinctly.

NaughtiusMaximus

fibonarchie wrote: »

I was listening to a programme on the radio last night about housewives (or the history of being a housewife in Britain and how it's changed over the decades)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07kl9gk

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

I always found it interesting that when you pay someone to look after your children childcare is regarded as a job, but for those who take the trouble to look after their children themselves, people consider it a non-job and a cushy way of life. Same with cleaning. What would a cleaner get paid - £12 per hour or so? All done for free by the housewife.

Not sure how they arrive at a figure of 48k a year. Even if you accept an hourly rate of £12 as correct (which is more than the vast majority of employed cleaners and nursery staff receive), that equates to a 77 hour week.

thriftyemma

Kayalana99 wrote: »

I don't understand people that say they are 'busy' when they are a stay at home Mum

It really does not take '40 hours' to clean a house, cook dinner and/or make pack lunches....

My rough calculations, based on 3 children, and one partner who works traditional 9-5 hours
Cooking - 12 hours. 9 cooked meals, breakfasts, meal planning, and shopping.
Cleaning - 5 hours. average 1 hour per weekday.
Laundry - 5 hours. average 1 hour per weekday.
School run - 5 hours. 2 x 30 min round trip, weekdays.
Homework - 3 hours a week. I'm not doing it, but I read out spelling lists, help research projects, listen to books, check maths tests...
Extra curricular activities - 7 hours. Swimming, taekwondo, ballet etc. Others are shared with OH, some are dropping off and collecting, some are staying with the children.

I'm at 37 hours. This is just an estimate of an average week, and I've yet to find a way to clean my bathroom from the side of a swimming pool. It doesn't include the dentists, the parents' evenings, the school plays, the rugby club tournaments, the emergency doctors appointments, the staying up to the small hours with a poorly child, the birthday parties, the playdates, the interrupted evenings because they want 'one more cuddle, one more drink...'

I think 40 hours is an underestimate, if I'm honest. And equally, a 9-5 office job could be described as sitting in a chair for 7 hours a day. Not exactly hard work, huh? I'd LOVE to have government mandated breaks, where I can have a hot cuppa, and nobody following me to the toilet. It's fine if your opinion is traditional paid employment is harder/more demanding/more stressful. But insulting the role of stay at home mum does not make your opinion any more valuable.

Red-Squirrel_2

thriftyemma wrote: »

My rough calculations, based on 3 children, and one partner who works traditional 9-5 hours
Cooking - 12 hours. 9 cooked meals, breakfasts, meal planning, and shopping.
Cleaning - 5 hours. average 1 hour per weekday.
Laundry - 5 hours. average 1 hour per weekday.
School run - 5 hours. 2 x 30 min round trip, weekdays.
Homework - 3 hours a week. I'm not doing it, but I read out spelling lists, help research projects, listen to books, check maths tests...
Extra curricular activities - 7 hours. Swimming, taekwondo, ballet etc. Others are shared with OH, some are dropping off and collecting, some are staying with the children.

I'm at 37 hours. This is just an estimate of an average week, and I've yet to find a way to clean my bathroom from the side of a swimming pool. It doesn't include the dentists, the parents' evenings, the school plays, the rugby club tournaments, the emergency doctors appointments, the staying up to the small hours with a poorly child, the birthday parties, the playdates, the interrupted evenings because they want 'one more cuddle, one more drink...'

I think 40 hours is an underestimate, if I'm honest. And equally, a 9-5 office job could be described as sitting in a chair for 7 hours a day. Not exactly hard work, huh? I'd LOVE to have government mandated breaks, where I can have a hot cuppa, and nobody following me to the toilet. It's fine if your opinion is traditional paid employment is harder/more demanding/more stressful. But insulting the role of stay at home mum does not make your opinion any more valuable.

But, you do realise working parents still do all that stuff as well as their paid jobs, don’t you?

Beans27

My stay at home partner has our 2 year old today and his 1 year old niece - you'd have to pay me a hell of a lot more than I earn at work to do that!

happyandcontented

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

But, you do realise working parents still do all that stuff as well as their paid jobs, don’t you?

Not during the day though, obviously, they do the after Nursery or School activities and some chores.

thriftyemma

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

But, you do realise working parents still do all that stuff as well as their paid jobs, don’t you?

I think everyone's circumstances are different, but my experience of full time working parents is that school runs, homework, clubs etc, are generally done by paid care providers.

I am certainly not arguing that my choice is more valid that anyone else's. I genuinely admire the determination of families with two working parents, who often don't have a choice. Or even mothers who do have a choice, but prefer to be in employment. There is no right or wrong way, It's what ever suits.

And my arrangement does suit me and our family. I 'work' a full time job as a mum. Working parents have to 'work' two 'jobs'. My point is, just because a working parent may work harder, it should not diminish the 'work' I do. It may well be an easier choice than being a working parent, but that does not make it easy.

Tabbytabitha

happyandcontented wrote: »

I think the OP above yours has made the point quite succinctly.

I wasn't quite sure what point was being made because I think that children entertaining themselves with a parent on call is an excellent thing - in no way second best to be entertained by a parent.

happyandcontented

Tabbytabitha wrote: »

I wasn't quite sure what point was being made because I think that children entertaining themselves with a parent on call is an excellent thing - in no way second best to be entertained by a parent.

I think it rather depends on how they are entertaining themselves. Watching endless hours of mindless kids tv is probably what many children would routinely do when not being pointed in a productive direction by a parent. Once they are, then yes, of course, it is beneficial to let them do so and develop the skill of being able to pass time independently and productively.