Is 'Housewife' an occupation?

DM would describe herself as a housewife. If the lady on mastermind looks old enough to have adult children it's probably the term she is most used to.

I think most women my age use SAHM, though I've seen 'homemaker' on official forms.

Wish I'd thought of that one WhenPush.

That must have been a great comfort to your mother too to have you there.

I always smile inside when people say do you work and I say I don't go OUT to work if that's what you mean. Ridiculous state of affairs where if you look after your own children you don't work but if you look after someone else's you do. I've loved every minute of being at home with my boys and also having time to help my beloved Mum during her incurable illness. I'm also gardener, cleaner, laundress, chauffeur, HR, IT, PA, counsellor, life coach, event planner, chef and dog walker!

Someone does paid work like being a PA, handyman/woman, nanny, cook... that’s ok.

Someone does exactly the same thing but does it for their family unpaid (thus saving paying vat again ) - unreasonable?

Sure there are precautions regarding making sure the unpaid person is not financially vulnerable and keeping up NI contributions. Also need to take into account 2 people on lower salaries pay less tax than 1 v high earner. But conversely 2 people who work have to balance out who pays for/does the unpaid work...

Rufus is you spend your days doing 'fuck all' I doubt you have to worry about going on mastermind

I it's not. No one pays her unless she is claiming unemployment benefits. And if she's claiming unemployment benefits, guess what? She's unemployed.

That sounds like an interesting read, alittle.

Also give Elizabeth Warren's "The Two Income Trap" a read. Families relying on two incomes makes them far, far more financially vulnerable than those who rely on one.

Going to channel my inner Toasty and 5zeds in future

At the other extreme, there are some women who are functionally enslaved.

I worked for most of my relationship with my husband and I was functionally enslaved through all of that time. I didn't realise the extent of his problems for years but I was living with an alcoholic/substance abuser who racked up debt like crazy on utterly pointless spending. I was constantly struggling to keep us financially stable but the more I cut back the more he spent. I was commuting, working, paying a London mortgage, doing almost all of the housework, looking after our dogs, etc because he worked such long hours (though it turned out he spent a lot of those hours I thought he was working socialising and treating friends to dinner/drinks). Every time I thought our heads were above water, a bill would arrive for a maxed out secret credit card he'd been splurging with. It was soul destroying but I was so fucking busy and tired that I just plodded on.

When a change in circumstances meant I chose to take some time out of work, to prepare for and oversee the sale of our house, I was finally able to take stock. I realised the full extent of his problems and how utterly I'd been used to prop us up. And yes, I spent years trying to help him and thought I had before I finally bailed out. But working helped enslave me while taking time out for housewifery was where I realised my actual value and got free.

I'm not sure what term I would have actually liked.

I'd been made redundant, so being at home wasn't my choice. And while I liked some of the freedoms away from 'the office' I was neither a wife nor a homemaker. I'm crap at most domestic chores. Also, men aren't called home makers.

I felt uncomfortable by saying unemployed because I was feeling low about redundancy yet I was working - bloody hard at home/with the kids.

I'm not sure how seriously my redundancy was viewed as a female either. There was an assumption I would be OK because of my husband

I didn't want to use "in between jobs" or even stay at home parent.

My mother is 73 and 'retired' yet works one day a week because she doesn't want to say she's retired.

Rufus I bloody love you! You always make me laugh when I feel I shouldn't

Agree she can use the label she wishes and society should stop bloody judging. I'm a woman also in a similar position and have had my share of trying to justify my being to others over the last few years. Sadly other women mainly.

Can't we think of a different word to describe a person who can afford to stay at home because they are supported by their partner?

Do you mean to be such a bitter, judgemental asshole or is it an accident?

That to me denotes a quite different role - somebody who has staff. 'Housewife' denotes something more like a housekeeper who is not a paid employee

Yes, but that suggestion was in response to the suggestion of a single woman, no children and of inherited wealth who did not have to work for a living.

I’m a single parent and don’t work due to my disability. I was actually a contestant on a TV quiz show a few years ago. They were quite happy to let me use my voluntary role in the “who you are and what you do” bit, and actually it raised some awareness of the charity. I don’t have anything against anyone choosing to use the term housewife though.

Housewives have the most need of feminism and the most need to consider themselves feminist... not to convince them not to be housewives... but to point out to the rest of society the massive amount of completely unpaid labour that women do that prop up the economy... and how that should be acknowledged and valued more instead of thinking of this work as not existing or being a doss option for lazy people...
Even when women work full time they tend to be the ones doing this work... and it very much is actual work. I dont think it does anyone any favours to pretend like this work doesnt need doing or doesnt exist just because the person doing it does not directly profit financially. Housewife IS an occupation.

Surely in this day and age no one claims that their occupation is housewife?

Why not? If her husband earns enough money for both and rather than working to earn money she takes care of household related things, then what else should she be called?

'Lady of Leisure', 'A Woman of Independent Means' ( that was used by both sexes in the past)?

That to me denotes a quite different role - somebody who has staff. 'Housewife' denotes something more like a housekeeper who is not a paid employee.

The more contemporary term may be home-maker.
When I was a child in the 60s/70s, our church 'young wives' group renamed itself 'homemakers'. It's been around awhile!

It's interesting how so much is made of people's occupations. I believe that although the question appears to oil the wheels of communication, it is actually a (possibly subconscious) way of categorising people socially and intellectually.
It would be good if people were simply asked to say something about their interests.
My job title is personal assistant, and I like it as it could cover a multitude of things.

If you're single, no kids but have a hefty inheritance or what not to live off how would you define yourself. Home maker doesn't quite seem right?

'Lady of Leisure', 'A Woman of Independent Means' ( that was used by both sexes in the past)?

Surely in this day and age no one claims that their occupation is housewife?

The more contemporary term may be home-maker. And yes, this is an occupation for many people; women especially - and one that many take pleasure in.

@MrsPear totally agree. It's why I tend to stay away from feminist discussion (and I do definitely believe in equality between the sexes). Currently not working myself after I left my last job through stressful circumstances - we are fortunate as a unit that we don't need the 2nd income and I am not ashamed to describe myself as a housewife, despite the fact I have a PhD! What I actually found embarrassing was the assumption from people that I was a housewife because we had small children that needed looking after - we don't (though we do now have one on the way)! My DM used to describe herself jokingly as a domestic engineer (mostly to wind up my DF who was an actual engineer)!

Maybe something like 'how would you describe yourself' would be better - so, some might still choose their occupation (inc housewife), but others might focus on a volunteer activity or 'hobby' - 'amateur archaeologist' or suchlike.

But then you might not get the !Surprise! factor of a bin man being an expert on medieval European architecture, or whatever.

Having thought about it, I think people quite like having their preconceptions challenged because there’s an element of the underdog triumphing. Like Susan Boyle, or some of the more unlikely contestants on Bake Off.

So I can actually imagine the contestant the OP mentioned having a load of fascinating hobbies and volunteering roles, and the producer saying “No, we’ll put you down as a housewife because that will make better TV”

Back in the 60’s and 70’s, “housewife” was a derogatory term.
Not in my experience. Factual and unremarkable, but not derogatory.

It's only in recent years that I've seen SAHM standing up for their choice instead of ducking. I can’t think of a single one of my mothers/grandmothers generation who ever expressed any shame at looking after their own children.

There are employed women who are “functionally enslaved” that’s not about their occupation it’s about domestic abuse.

It isn’t a recent idea that feminists can be housewives. Some of the major feminist writings and campaigns have been about the value of women’s unpaid labour.