Homemaking

Homemaking is the compilation of activities that an individual does to maintain the home. These activities can include cleaning, laundry, making meals, shopping for household needs, and paying bills, as well as outdoor work such as lawn care, and home maintenance. This kind of work is necessary because it enables other household members, usually males, to perform in the formal market economy. While home-making can be distinguished from childcare, it is important to note that these two types of work often occur simultaneously. While not often thought of as an occupation in the traditional sense of doing work to earn an income, maintaining one's living environment can be considered a full-time job. In fact, there have been numerous movements that have attempted to have household work formally compensated by wages. A woman who is not employed in the formal labor market but works to maintain the household is called a “homemaker.” It is now more common for individuals who work as homemakers to do so only when they have children, which means that the terms stay-at-home mom or stay-at-home dad may be more appropriate in describing these individuals.

Homemaking is often stereotyped and thought of as women's work. Traditionally, it was thought that a man's role was one that was both independent and public, whereas women's roles were relegated to the domestic sphere: taking care of the home and children. Even recently, women do nearly twice as much house-related work than men, though the net difference between men's and women's work has decreased since the middle of the 20th century. This has occurred because although men are doing more housework than before, women are doing substantially less, perhaps because of educational and occupational commitments. Further, even when women and men split the duties of homemaking, chores often are split along gendered lines: men will mow the lawn and fix the family car, while women do most of the day-to-day cleaning and meal preparation. Further, women are often still responsible for the planning and organizing of household tasks.