Is 'Housewife' an occupation?

Sure the word has problems

But if you change it, the new word will be seen as per op

Because of capitalism + misogyny.

For the man, if he's looking for work then he's unemployed. If the couple have agreed that his partner will earn and he will look after the house etc, then he could choose househusband or homemaker.

I think homemaker was invented because of the issues with housewife but lots don't like it.

Househusband is a thing, a term people recognise as well.

what’s the difference between this unemployed guy and a ‘housewife’?

Maybe not a lot - except that a housewife is generally looking after at least one other person not just herself.

I have an acquaintance who has been unemployed for years and makes all the excuses up under the sun not to seek work. He is well known in my peer group for being lazy, tardy and selfish. However, he doesn’t just sit around all day- he does housework daily, gardening, looking after his pet dog, admin, cooking, DIY (the sort of tasks housewives would constitute as being ‘full time work’).

So tell me, what’s the difference between this unemployed guy and a ‘housewife’?

my SiL would probably describe herself as a housewife. OK fine that's up to her. But, she has no dependent children or other caring responsibilities. She literally does all the housework and I assume most of the admin while her able bodied husband works full time.
I find it very hard to understand that as a choice. In the old days maybe when there were no hoovers, central heating, all food cooked from scratch, clothes made and/or repaired by hand....then housewife is an occupation. I don't think it is now.

A housewife is a self-chosen role/identity above all - and can be said to be an occupation in the form of "a regular activity/a way of spending time", which is one aspect of the definition of 'occupation' in the dictionary. However, a housewife is not an occupation in the context of a "job/profession".

The man is the 'master', the 'householder' in that etymology though, it's not defined as a partnership of equals.

Sorry, failed to enclose dictionary def with quote marks. The last para is my own thoughts.

from etymonline:

housewife (n.)

early 13c., husewif, "woman, usually married, in charge of a family or household; wife of a householder," from huse "house" (see house (n.)) + wif "woman" (see wife (n.)). Compare husband (n.).

husband (n.)

Old English husbonda "male head of a household, master of a house, householder," probably from Old Norse husbondi "master of the house," literally "house-dweller," from hus "house" (see house (n.)) + bondi "householder, dweller, freeholder, peasant," from buandi, present participle of bua "to dwell" (from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow," and compare bond (adj.)). Beginning late 13c. it replaced Old English wer as "married man (in relation to his wife)" and became the companion word of wife, a sad loss for English poetry.

It is an occupation - if a marriage/partnership, she is supporting the joint venture of family/home with labour and time while the partner/husband is supporting the venture with finance/wages. At least, that's how I see it in my head.

The problem isn't the word, it's the attitude to women, combined with capitalism

I think there is also something of a negative with the word itself, in that it defines the woman's role in relation to her spouse - usually a man. As a bit of an aside, I'm curious to know if a woman in a same sex marriage would be likely to call herself a 'housewife'?

Of course it can be an occupation! Even if your children are in school full time or even if you havent got any children... sometimes relationships are set up so that one us free to bring in as much money as possible and focus on their career whilst the other takes care of the household.
I mean I have very young children so it's pretty full on anyway (I'm a housewife) but even if i didnt, my husband works very long hours and sometimes nights, so hes very little time to do anything to do with this house. He will be gone from 6am and not back until 8.30pm some days. So I am doing all the cooking, cleaning, and general maintenance on the house... not to a high standard to be honest because im also doing the majority of child care and admin! But if I fudnt have children or they were older and at school all day I would certainly still have a reasonably full day taking care of the house.... if I wasnt doing it he would need to work less in order to take care of things this side more... my work enables him to earn more and become more successful (hes also doing a masters at the moment... he wouldnt be able to do that on top of working long hours if I wasnt here taking care of his home)
Never would I class myself as 'unemployed' or say I had no occupation.

Of course an occupation can be unpaid.

Why is this even a question.

Student is unpaid...?

I actually suspect the reason that mastermind makes them give their job is a bit grim and patronising - it's so we can all be astonished when a bus driver or a housewife turns out to know something

Agree fraggling. Perhaps Mastermind should proceed with the following Capitalist Categories for simplicity:

In proper full time paid employment
Pisstaker In part time paid employment
Parasite Not in paid employment

Yes to the occupation question being pointless. Why is it even asked?
The issues are twofold:
Capitalist society only seeing paid work as work
Misogyny. The work that women have done/ tend to do being seen as not work somehow, rather a natural thing that they just automatically do and there's no need to recognise it. See also, roles that women traditionally do/ or are female dominated attracting low pay

The problem isn't the word, it's the attitude to women, combined with capitalism.

If asked my occupation I say “Housewife”. To be fair that’s partly because some people look so horrified

A woman after my own heart! I love doing this to people. So many people expect you to feel the need to justify this and it's wonderful to just confidently say "housewife" and then let it hang there.

It all just feels very 1950's Doris Day
So bloody what! This woman appears comfortable in this description of herself. My friend is severely disabled and can't do much and refers herself as a housewife as it gives her a sense of status. My mother is a housewife. She may be older but she is happy this way.

Unemployed is not the same as not-employed!

No man ever described himself as a something plus father.

As for the original question, yes it’s an occupation! I think for most working women the idea of being at home all day is the same as the time they spend at home now. It isn’t, a full housewife does it all, all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, kids stuff

If asked my occupation I say “Housewife”. To be fair that’s partly because some people look so horrified. . Some people honestly only see paid employment as worthy.

There's an assumption she is living off her husband's income. She might, but she might be living off money she already made for herself. If she has a buy to let, landlord, if she sold a business, retired? I think housewife is shorthand for 'not in traditional employment, but mind your own business'.

There are plenty of people out there who don’t work and have no intention of getting a job, so out of interest how would you describe those people?

I can’t watch Mastermind because of John Humphreys. He’s on my Toby Young list of unbearable people.

The issue is with them demanding everyone defines their occupation.

Unemployed is not correct unless someone is looking for work.

Surely describing someone as unemployed leads people to believe that a person is actually seeking work and/or claiming benefits. Neither of those is true in my case.

Good for her, nothing wrong with housewife or househusband.

People employ other people to cook their meals, clean their house, do gardening, do the laundry, ironing, do admin/secretarial work. She may do a lot of a little of those things, she may look after elderly relatives and/or grandchildren/nieces/nephews or do volunteer work. The total value of this can be high - it’s shouldn’t be undervalued.

I think you are being really pedantic. Does it matter if they use "occupation" or some other word. And to say you are a student or housewife or similar in response to a question on an insurance application is commonplace. And if the woman concerned wants to describe herself as a housewife that's up to her.