The Division of Labor: In the Home
Title
The Division of Labor: In the Home
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"Thinking about the division of labor, I realize that the traditional concept relates to industry, where a job is broken down to its component parts."
Date
2014
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Identifier
THE_DIVISION_OF_LABOR
Text
THE DIVISION OF LABOR: IN THE HOME
Thinking about the division of labor, I realize that the traditional concept relates to industry, where a job is broken down to its component parts. Instead of one man building a ship, or constructing a house, or making a suit of clothes, it becomes more efficient if different parts of the job are divided among different people. The job is then completed more quickly, and it is easier to train a worker to do one task, than to train that person to become skilled at all its parts. Besides, you can pay an unskilled worker much less than you would pay a skilled worker. Part of the price paid, however, is the alienation of the unskilled worker from the job, as Marx pointed out. The increasing specialization means workers do repetitive tasks requiring little skill for which they get no satisfaction, and little pay.
But as interesting as this is, I want to address my problem: the division of labor in the home. Specifically my home, where reside a retired couple with differing degrees of infirmity. Traditionally, in most homes where there is a college-educated husband and wife, and two and a half children, there is a fairly clear division of labor. The husband, initially, is the main bread-winner and mechanic. The wife, initially, is the homemaker, the chief cook and bottle washer, the producer and director of the two and a half children. As time goes by, the wife usually returns to work, and many of the domestic chores are shared. However, the wife usually remains the chief cook, except in the summer when the husband takes over at the outdoor grill. In many homes, if the wife cooks, the husband cleans. Responsibility for the children is usually shared, but the husband may take over more with a boy and vice versa.
Speaking of shared chores (try saying that three times, fast), shopping may be one, gardening (if there is a garden) may be another. Planning vacations, renovations, neighborhood recreations (restaurants, movies, concerts), should certainly be shared, though one of them may take the lead. The wife frequently initiates friendships with neighbors, and maintains contact with relatives. The car, being a mechanical object, tends to be the province of the husband. However, driving the children tends to fall to the wife. Long trips are shared.
So what about the retired couple with different degrees of infirmity? (Just as I wrote this, Fran fell in the bathroom, requiring my help getting up. As she noted, after regaining her footing, she was lucky, not having hurt herself too much, and not having broken anything, except the shower door track. Fran has returned to bed. I had lunch and am returning to my computer.)
Why am I writing about this? Because I am troubled by the way labor has become divided between Fran and me. Since we are both retired, and since our son is out of the house, and since I am limited by what I am able to do mechanically, and since we have no garden (though we have a few plants), and since we have a cleaning person, the main chores relate to meal preparation: shopping, cooking and cleaning. Fran decides what meals she will prepare, which determines what will be bought. Most of the time, Fran wants to do the shopping. On rare occasions she will ask me to purchase the ingredients, being very specific, and making it clear that she doesn’t trust me if she is not specific.
Thinking about the division of labor, I realize that the traditional concept relates to industry, where a job is broken down to its component parts. Instead of one man building a ship, or constructing a house, or making a suit of clothes, it becomes more efficient if different parts of the job are divided among different people. The job is then completed more quickly, and it is easier to train a worker to do one task, than to train that person to become skilled at all its parts. Besides, you can pay an unskilled worker much less than you would pay a skilled worker. Part of the price paid, however, is the alienation of the unskilled worker from the job, as Marx pointed out. The increasing specialization means workers do repetitive tasks requiring little skill for which they get no satisfaction, and little pay.
But as interesting as this is, I want to address my problem: the division of labor in the home. Specifically my home, where reside a retired couple with differing degrees of infirmity. Traditionally, in most homes where there is a college-educated husband and wife, and two and a half children, there is a fairly clear division of labor. The husband, initially, is the main bread-winner and mechanic. The wife, initially, is the homemaker, the chief cook and bottle washer, the producer and director of the two and a half children. As time goes by, the wife usually returns to work, and many of the domestic chores are shared. However, the wife usually remains the chief cook, except in the summer when the husband takes over at the outdoor grill. In many homes, if the wife cooks, the husband cleans. Responsibility for the children is usually shared, but the husband may take over more with a boy and vice versa.
Speaking of shared chores (try saying that three times, fast), shopping may be one, gardening (if there is a garden) may be another. Planning vacations, renovations, neighborhood recreations (restaurants, movies, concerts), should certainly be shared, though one of them may take the lead. The wife frequently initiates friendships with neighbors, and maintains contact with relatives. The car, being a mechanical object, tends to be the province of the husband. However, driving the children tends to fall to the wife. Long trips are shared.
So what about the retired couple with different degrees of infirmity? (Just as I wrote this, Fran fell in the bathroom, requiring my help getting up. As she noted, after regaining her footing, she was lucky, not having hurt herself too much, and not having broken anything, except the shower door track. Fran has returned to bed. I had lunch and am returning to my computer.)
Why am I writing about this? Because I am troubled by the way labor has become divided between Fran and me. Since we are both retired, and since our son is out of the house, and since I am limited by what I am able to do mechanically, and since we have no garden (though we have a few plants), and since we have a cleaning person, the main chores relate to meal preparation: shopping, cooking and cleaning. Fran decides what meals she will prepare, which determines what will be bought. Most of the time, Fran wants to do the shopping. On rare occasions she will ask me to purchase the ingredients, being very specific, and making it clear that she doesn’t trust me if she is not specific.
Original Format
application/msword
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “The Division of Labor: In the Home,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed May 1, 2024, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/233.