Do housewives still exist?

[Mumteedum]

Had a funny moment in the supermarket this week where a lady was grumbling about something and we had a little small talk about how busy it is at Xmas and supermarket moving things so you can't find stuff. She referred to 'harassed housewives ' and I said 'yes and non housewives too'. She sort of apologised but I hadn't meant it to be as if I'd taken offense so made a joke of it all and all nice and fine, the end.

But it just felt like a word from another era. I remember mum saying she was a housewife. Are there any housewives these days?

I found it really odd that the lady would assume anyone was a housewife these days.

I don't really know how to explain... if you are at home all day you can clean your house and go shopping and cook etc during 'working hours'.

If you work all day you have to shop, cook, clean after you have finished work.

So having a job and a family is harder / more work / more time consuming than just a family.

Sort of makes sense right?

I’m a housewife! 👋 I also do work for myself but it’s in the arts so not enough to live off although not a hobby either.
I’m under no illusion that working in a proper job, would be much harder than picking choosing my work and ‘keeping house’.
Also can claim independent wealth, I’m pretty sure I use housewife/ homemaker on my car insurance, despite the kids being long gone.
There’s quite a few of us where I live, some are wealthy, some have been carers, some have had their own health issues to deal with.
My mother is extremely disappointed in me 😂

@eqpi4t2hbsnktd well it all depends on your view of "busy". Housework etc the only thing housewives often find themselves doing.
But aren't going to agree on this whatever either of us say 🙂

I don't mind the term housewife, it's not offensive just a bit old fashioned. I hate the term 'full time' mum, it implies if you work you are a part time mum!

Fair enough - that’s a perfectly acceptable choice

What do you mean about working hard to end up in a marriage in which that would be financially possible?

Was a criteria in your husband material that he could afford to keep you without you working?

YAY!!! 😊

Im a housewife 😊

Yeah I think it's either SAHM or unemployed!

Isn’t that more ‘codependently wealthy’ then?

Yes @Mumoftwoboysaged4and5 i suppose it would be more accurate but that’s not on the list insurers etc use. Independently wealthy, interestingly, often is.

I’ve been a combination of most of these.
Full working with one child-hard
Part time ( I think 27 hours ish) with 2 very young children- harder than above.
Full time mother- hard and tedious but rewarding too.
Part time 27 hours upped to 32 hours with 3 school aged children- still hard but not the hardest.
Full time plus working 7 days sometimes with grown up children- easier.
The hardest was working 4 full days with 2 very young ( pre nursery aged) dcs. But the days off I had were mid week when my ex h was at work, so I had zero support when I was with the dcs. I had no outside help at all. I did the vast majority of chores whilst holding down the better paid/ more responsible job. I cooked, cleaning, entertained the DCs, did all the laundry, ironing, gardening, washed the cars, I even decorated the entire house.
Absolutely easier was working full time without DCs- no contest.
I think it depends on the amount of help you have. Some people do not know they are born.
They don’t seam to even like their DCs and just ignore them. Then go on having even more DCs.
Some people get on with things whilst others are lazier.
Some people have more choice than others, see the post above written by a midwife.
Whatever works best for you.

I've just realised this should have said "Housework etc ISN'T the only thing housewives do"

what else do they do?

@eqpi4t2hbsnktd oh good grief. You really think housewives just stay at home baking and flicking dusters around their homes 😂
I am technically a housewife as I am not in paid employment (but not actively seeking a paid job).
I do lots of different things.

I think the term housewife is awful, it's definitely a blast from the past.
I remember my mum writing that down on an official certificate of some kind. My dad , in the early years,was a butcher and she wrote down that she was a housewife.
Of course she very quickly got a job, and training, and kissed that descriptive term goodbye for good.
I expect that the woman you spoke to hasn't updated her vocabulary to SAHM, which doesn't really mean housewife because you can be a housewife without having children.
Not sure what you would call a person who stays home and looks after a house these days.
Housekeeper?

I did loads more things when I wasn't working than when I was. I cooked from scratch more. Helped on almost every school trip going. Ran a playgroup. Volunteered somewhere. Devoted a lot of time to the PTA. Looked after friends DC when they needed emergency childcare.

I dropped most of that when I went back to work full time. And did a lot less housework!

@greenpasturesandcloverfields I actually don't see the need for people to be defined by what they do except for on official things like the census or things relating to insurance, mortgages etc.
Why does it matter?
I hate it in things like TV quiz shows - "This is Jane. She's 47 and an admin assistant from Barnsley". Who cares if she's an admin assistant? It doesn't tell me anything about her !

I was made redundant when i was 7 months pregnant due to a lovely restructure at work and to be honest i didn't fancy reapplying for a job i had been doing for 15 years. The timing worked out well because i stayed at home with my child until she started school nursery. I used to describe myself as working for my daughter but that unfortunately it was unpaid.

It’s almost like you don’t understand that not all parts of a unit have to do the same thing. How on earth do you think businesses work? You can’t possibly believe all employees generate income directly?

@Einaldilastcup

I actually hate the term SAHM. It implies that I don’t stay at home? Where do I go? I must run away and leave looking after my kids to some one else 😂

I don't understand what you mean here - SAHM literally means Stay at Home Mum.

@Tarantella6

One my male colleagues is 60ish and his wife hasn't worked since they got married. I'm sure she's not that unusual in that age group in not going back to work once the children were bigger.

I think you are looking at a generation or half generation older than age 60.

@MaybeALittle I agree. Titles do too. Mrs is exactly as you have described.

Wish I could amend posts on the App. First part of post above is a quote. Meant to bolden it.

I work, minimum wage. But happy to be called a housewife. Life admin, cleaning and anything else house related is my thing. Would rather be called a housewife than a SAHM

I couldn't call myself a housewife unless I meant married to the house, since I'm single. 😄 I've gone from being my mother's carer to waiting the last few years before I can get the age pension. I happily call myself a dole bludger - I do a bit of volunteering but I know perfectly well I'm never going to get another job, and don't really care.