Is 'Housewife' an occupation?

[Soontobe60]

First contestant on Mastermind tonight has given her occupation as housewife. Does that mean she is employed by her husband? She looks too old to have children that need looking after, and if she had an adult disabled child then her occupation would be carer.
Surely in this day and age no one claims that their occupation is housewife?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Going to channel my inner Toasty and 5zeds in future

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.

That sounds like an interesting read, alittle.

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.

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

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...

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!

Wish I'd thought of that one WhenPush.

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

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.

I’m also gardener, cleaner, laundress, chauffeur, HR, IT, PA, counsellor, life coach, event planner, chef and dog walker!

I was a SAHM for a year and a half after my DS was born - I believe that staying at home looking after children or even just looking after the house if your DH earns enough money is a perfectly valid thing to do, no one should have to explain themselves for it. But statements like the ones above really make me cringe (especially ‘life coach’ I haven’t heard that one before - that’s a double cringe from me) I don’t understand the need to validate (probably to yourself more than anyone else) what you’re doing by equating it to twenty other paid jobs as though you’re working ten times harder than other people who are most likely doing the same thing on top of their jobs. I’ve heard of some women actually writing that sort of thing on their CVs when going back to paid work - it doesn’t go down well. Walking your own dog isn’t the same as being a dog walker, putting your DD’s hair in a plait doesn’t equate to hairdressing, cooking a lasagne is not being a chef... you take care of your children and keep the house in good shape - that’s it’s very own thing, so own it. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Actually someone who does “fuck all” in terms of paid employment and housekeeping probably has loads of time to study obscure topics, so could be the perfect candidate for Mastermind

'I'm just trying to understand why women would use this term, which I still think is outdated.'

It's a standard term that is widely understood and has been in circulation for ages.

Not tricky.

Or are women expected to spend valuable time scrutinising every word that comes out of their mouths.

Fact is lots of words that are applied to what women do are problematic, and this is because what women do and say is up for continual judgement, and we are usually found to be in the wrong.

OP you have not suggested an alternative term so what on earth did you expect her to day. I get the feeling that gold digging lazy good for nothing bastard is what you are thinking. From your posts.

Maybe a housewife/homemaker should just list the things she does then. What do you do? well I ..........

I don’t understand the need to validate (probably to yourself more than anyone else) what you’re doing by equating it to twenty other paid jobs as though you’re working ten times harder than other people who are most likely doing the same thing on top of their jobs.
Do you really imagine you do the same job after working that someone who is say a housewife and sahm? . How so?

@5zeds because after going back to work I still have to the get the same things done at home as I did as a housewife/SAHM - the housework, the cooking, taking care of DS etc. I just have a lot less time to get it done in. As I said in my post, I’ve done both things - so no I’m not imagining it, I know it from experience.

So what happens to your ds while you are working?

Who gives a sh!t.Over the previous 20+yrs ve been un-employed/ low income,multiple poorly paid menial jobs holder/ housewife/overworked whilst studying at uni& then self-employed/high income earner..couldnt care less if people chose to define me by such descriptions-small potatoes😂