Tuesday, January 06, 2015

How the non-employed spend their time—men and women

I did a survey like this of my own life about 40 years ago when I was a SAHM and the children were in elementary school. I counted their time at school as "work," my husband's time including travel as "work," his home maintenance chores and outdoor yard care as work, and tracked what I did that could conceivably be called work--house cleaning, cooking, laundry, organizing, transportation of the children, supervising play groups, doctor's appointments, helping with school projects. I lost big time. Everyone in the family, including the children, was working harder and longer hours than I was (I had a nap every afternoon). The meme is how hard women at home work--nonsense. Many women I know make up work, both those who are employed and those who work at home. Being busy is a compulsion with many women, and a lot is just wasted time. My great great grandmothers Williford (TN) and Wenger (OH) worked hard--had no electricity or running water, helped with the farm, slaughtered animals for food, baked their own bread, made clothes and quilts, raised their own food, fed the hired men, nursed the sick, took in less fortunate relatives, and birthed 10+ babies. Now that was work!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/06/upshot/how-nonemployed-americans-spend-their-weekdays-men-vs-women.html

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