Re: AUT: wages for housework

[Katha Pollitt <kpollitt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Monty -- welcome back. I think the best way for society to
recognize the important economic role of housework is for men to do lots
and lots of it.
  since there is, in fact, no movement for Wages for Housework, and not
likely to be one in the foreseeable future, for reasons we all
acknowledge, let's talk instead about other ways in which the greater
domestic burden of women could be realistically compensated.  For
example: maternal preference in child custody after divorce (when many
men suddenly discover their paternal yearnings)and back "payment" for
services rendered during a marriage or live-in. Under today's divorce
laws, wives are rarely compensated in the settlement for their labor in
the home. Do you think they should be?
  Divorce law would be an excellent place to start formally
acknowledging the role of housework in reproducting labor power. Unlike
wages for housework, settlements that accurately reflected women's
unpaid contributions would not have the effect of freezing gender roles
in inequality. Indeed, if men knew they might have to pay for the
unequal division of labor in the home, they might be more interested in
equality.



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