Housework Reconsidered
The Oakley Thesis Twenty Years Later
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2375561 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Norman Bonney (Department of Sociology at Aberdeen University), Elizabeth Reinach (University of Aberdeen) |
| Year | 1993 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 615-627 |
| Publication date | 1993-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Work Employment and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/095001709374006 |
| OpenAlex | W2054625569, W4247361378 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 4 |
neglected. The focus of much sociological research has switched to women employed in the labour force and to the analysis of their occupational position and prospects. Relatively less attention has been given to women who are not in, nor seeking, paid employment. Yet women not in, nor seeking, paid employment are a substantial element of the adult population. Thirty per cent of the Women and Employment sample were not in paid work nor looking for work (Martin and Roberts 1984: 9); and between a third and a quarter of the female respondents aged between 20 and 60 fell into this category in each of the 1,000 persons sampled in each Economic and Social Research Council Change and Economic Life Initiative locality (Aberdeen, Kirkcaldy, Coventry, Rochdale, Swindon and Northampton). With the rising rates of employ ment participation by younger women and the earlier return to work of female workers following upon maternity, associated breaks in employ ment are increasingly seen as temporary interruptions in life-long em ployment trajectories in the labour market (Martin and Roberts 1984: chapter 13). Nonetheless, substantial proportions of women still with draw from the labour market when they have young children. Forty-five per cent of mothers with young children of age 4 or under in 1989, and 30% of mothers among couples with dependent children, were not in paid employment or currently seeking it (Breeze, Trevor and Wilmot 1991: 70, Table 3.21). Nor do all women currently absent from the labour market plan, anticipate or experience a return to paid employ ment; twenty-six per cent of women in their forties in 1989 were, for instance, not in paid employment (ibid: 71). Older women, and perhaps some younger ones, may still see their major role as domestic and not
Sociology · History · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Labor Movements and Unions · Rural development and sustainability
| Citations per year | 0.26 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1999 - 2013 (15) |
| Highly cited | No |