She Doesn't Works. She is a Housewife.

  

        

5 Reasons why a homemaker's work is not considered work in today's society?

The division between work inside and outside the home has shaped how societies value different types of labor. Over time, tasks performed by homemakers have come to be seen as less significant, even though they are essential for maintaining households. These shifts reflect deeper changes in how we view labor, family roles, and economic contribution. As industrialization and wage labor became the norm, domestic work lost visibility and recognition. Understanding how these perceptions evolved offers insights into the broader societal forces that shaped the devaluation of work traditionally associated with homemakers.

1. Industrialization and Separation of Workspaces: Before industrialization, most economic activities, including household production, were intertwined with home life. Both men and women contributed to the family’s economy through farming, weaving, and other home-based work. However, the Industrial Revolution's rise in factories moved economic production out of homes and into formal workplaces. As men increasingly left home for wage labor, the home became seen as a non-economic space, with women's domestic labor devalued.
2. Capitalist Economic Structures: In a capitalist system, work that is paid and part of the formal economy is highly valued, while unpaid labor, like caregiving, cooking, and cleaning, which doesn't generate direct income, is often dismissed as "non-work." Homemakers’ contributions became invisible because they were not assigned a monetary value, even though their work was essential for maintaining the household and supporting the workforce.
3. Patriarchal Gender Norms: The division between “public” (male-dominated work) and “private” (female-dominated domestic work) spaces reinforced gender roles. Patriarchal norms dictated that men were breadwinners, while women were homemakers, responsible for unpaid caregiving and household duties. As a result, work done in the home was seen as an extension of a woman’s "natural" role rather than a form of labor with economic value.
4. Formalization of the Workforce: As economies became more industrialized and regulated, the formal workforce—where people were hired, paid wages, and had measurable productivity—became the standard for what was considered "work." Unpaid domestic labor was excluded from this definition because it couldn’t be measured in the same way as wage labor.
5. Cultural Shifts in Value Systems: As modern economies became more focused on consumerism, material wealth, and productivity, activities that did not result in tangible economic gain were undervalued. Since homemakers’ contributions were primarily indirect (through child-rearing, maintaining the household, etc.), they were seen as less valuable compared to paid employment.

These sociological shifts contributed to the widespread notion that homemakers' work did not contribute to the family economy, even though it was essential for family well-being and the broader workforce.