Kirsti Clapsadle The Growth of Wage Work (291-316)

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"To this day, women of all racial-ethnic groups are far more likely to perform unpaid household work than men." (291) I. Diversity of Women's Works in Pre-Capitalist Period a. Pre-capitalist period, most free white families worked together to provide for themselves in "family economy" including food, housing and furniture, clothing, and health care. i. Head of household was often husband/father, while daughters were often forced into arranged marriages in which they lost property rights and children could be basically forced into contract labor b. There were few laborers so those who could afford it bought slaves and/or contract laborers. c. During this time, women's work was similar to the men of her racial-ethnic group and class position II. The Uneven Movement of Racial-Ethnic Groups into Wage Labor a. From 1780 at 64% self-employed non-natives and 16% laborers, to 1890 at twice as many wage workers. 1990 there were ten times the amount of wage workers. III. Breadwinners and Working Girls: The Sexual Division of Labor in the Family Under Capitalism, 1830-1930 a. Wage labor: paid, factories/offices, boss versus reproductive labor: unpaid, home, head of household=boss b. "Among upper- and middle-class European Americans, the nineteenth-century cult of domesticity developed and formalized a division of labor in which

Kirsti Clapsadle

Outline

husbands were property owners and professionals, while wives were homemakers and mothers." (298) c. Some took it as a call to enter social work, nursing, and teaching fields IV. The Economic Costs of Domesticity a. In 1900 men made up 82% paid employment b. "Since white men controlled the highest-paid jobs, most white men could survive financially without women, while most white women remained financially dependent upon their husbands or fathers." (301) c. Women's work was seen as less valuable than men's work V. The Decline of Domesticity, 1920-1990

a. Women, being more educated, started jobs and decided to keep them a lot of the time even after marriage VI. The Sexual Division of Labor at Work: Persistence and Change a. "Men are still more likely than women to work for pay and to work full time" (306-7) b. Because of the lower pay, women have had to deal with the "double day" VII. Women on Their Own a. Increase in women's work has been both the cause and effect of the increasing tendency for women to live on their own b. While the divorce rate has risen, it could be due more to freedom than unhappiness because women of the past didnt really have the option to divorce like they have in recent years due to jobs and pay

Kirsti Clapsadle

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c. Even though women are MORE able than in the past to self-suffice, there are still issues monetarily: i. welfare is available, but not easily and there is always high tensions among the different political parties ii. Congress considered a five-year lifetime limit on the receipt of AFDC, a ban on payments to unwed teen mothers, a ban on extra payments to mothers who have another child while receiving AFDC, and a range of other punitive 'reform' policies" (314). iii. A lot of child care help has been hindered or severed.