Can I be paid for this job?

Posted on by Parul Thakur
Job
A Chore-day chore.

Sundays are Chore-days.

Like many of you already know, I am not the one who frets about chores. Not that I am very efficient or meticulous but I don’t let the household chores take my mind space. Be it cleaning, organizing, so on and so forth.

I digress.

So, yesterday as I folded the laundry one after the other while watching TV, I thought why don’t I get paid for this chore. It takes my valuable time that I can put to better use. The sorting and putting back in wardrobe again demands time and I can read or write during those precious hours. I do this every week so this is not one-off.

So shouldn’t I get paid?

Has such a thought crossed your mind? What would be your advice to me?

While you are thinking of what will you tell me, I have some stats to share. According to 2016 Report from Bureau of Labor Statistics, and looking at employed people over 25 years of age:

  • On an average day, 85 percent of women and 69 percent of men spend some time doing household activities. These include housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other household management.
  • Women spend an average of 2.6 hours on these activities, while men spend 2.0 hours on the days they do housework.
  • On an average day, 21% of men do housework such as cleaning or laundry compared with 50% of women.
  • 45% of men do food preparation or cleanup, compared with 70% of women.

Over the last 13 years, the contribution of men has increased and the time that women invest in household work has gone down. There is a long way to go before the stats match but there is progress. Progress over perfection is what really matters.

I am writing a slightly long post for MicroblogMondays #161 and tagging this picture I clicked yesterday to Mundane Monday #128.

43 thoughts on “Can I be paid for this job?”

  1. If one was paid for housework I’d be a lakhpati as would scores of women across the world and would perhaps be looked upon with more respect. Glad to see those stats and that the men’s share was going up in housework.

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  4. At my home, for every house work we do, we get 1 point in our jar. For adults, 1 point = 2$ and for kids its 0.25C.
    End of the week, we count how much we earned and buy pizza 🙂
    My 2 year old puts away his shoes and laundry 🙂 nothing like pizza to motivate

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  6. I’ve lived in homes where the folding was each person’s responsibility especially as they got older but if you are talking little ones then either mother or father are the ones to do it and watching TV is one way to cope with it.

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  7. I have instituted a chore-chart to try to get the cleaning to be more equally divvied up. It used to be that I did more of the inside and he did more of the outside, but he hired a lawn service and somehow we still don’t have a cleaning lady… 🙂 I’m glad the stats are climbing more towards equity. I feel that as the years go by hopefully more men will be raised to know that housework is EVERYONE WHO LIVES IN THE HOUSE’s responsibility (I know a lot of guys who never learned to do laundry because they were told their future wife would do it, WHA?). I do tend to do most of the laundry… maybe leave a sheet around that says what the per-piece price would be if you sent it out? 🙂

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  8. This question will always pop in my mind too, But as soon as it arises, it will pop out as a bubble. Since I feel always I’m getting paid for all these by the unconditional love of my hubby, son, family, and friends.

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  10. Agree with you Parul. Homemaking is the most undervalued profession where someone, particularly a woman sacrifice so much for the entire family. It’s one the reasons that I prefer the term homemakers to anything else which I believe is derogatory and doesn’t honor this work.

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  13. Well, that is an interesting question you pose. We hear a lot about housework being one of the largest unpaid “sector”, but like Corinne, I wonder who will pay me for the housework? I think the best “payment” comes from a division of responsibilities. That way neither partner feels like they’re doing “all the work.”

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  14. Yes, Parul, I remember this article that appeared in the Times of India years ago. I asked hubby the same question, as to how much should I get paid for all the work I do at home. In return, the guy simply applied extra cheese to my bread slice and said this is what he would rather give me than depositing 5000 bucks in my account! I had written a post pouring my heart and some of my anger in the rant I wrote on my blog. He said, I can take any amount of money I wish to, there’s really no need to “ask” for a fixed amount for the work I do! That guy, I tell you….he has a way with words and always has me stumped! 😛
    But, there are women who aren’t as lucky, so I feel there should be a fixed amount they can really earn for all the work they do in their homes…at least they will have something to support them in their time of need.

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  15. This made me laugh. Thank you for reminding me there are others who feel the same way I do. I like to have a clean and tidy house, especially when I have visitors. But I also think that there’s no point in doing the household chores when they can wait another day! lol I’m quite lucky though – my husband does a reasonable share of the chores inside, and almost all of them outside. I do all the mental and emotional chores though – remembering birthdays, thinking about what help his elderly parents need and prodding him to do it, organising our social outings and holidays and trips, etc etc etc. He thinks I do it for fun. Sigh.

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  16. Sigh!!! I live on my own so there can be no division of work though the quantum is less too!! I agree this should be incentive/paid work so that we are more enthused about it. One thing I have to say that I feel loads better after tidying up the house – some sort of relief at it looking spic and span!!! Do you feel the same way?

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  17. The most cherished and precious thing in my home is my dishwasher. I don’t know where I would be without … Probably in a heap of dirty dishes. Household activities consume a good part of our weekends… From laundry to gardening… Sigh if only someone paid me.

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  18. Sigh, I hear you.

    The amount of work I do at home, I should be paid more than what I am at work. Of-course Cal helps me around once in a while, but the onus always falls on the woman for meals, clothes and keeping the house clean.

    At times I get frustrated and want to throw it all away. The unfolded/unwashed clothes, the dishes in the sink or the vegetables to be cooked. But then reality strikes and I go back to doing it.

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  19. Important question parul 🙂 Yes sometimes I think I need to be paid for all the work in the kitchen and maintenance of the house… and I find ways and means to ensure that I am acknowledged in some way or the other:) things have improved for 18 years of living together ….. sensitivity, maturity and understanding is grown and I am glad that we are evolving together.

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  20. Oh, I wouldnt mind getting paid for the household chores. And since I love doing them and I am good at managing my home and that I have been doing it for 20 years, I think my payout should be pretty handsome. But who is paying me??

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  21. If I can outsource something and be happy with the quality, i’d rather outsource it and spend that time fuitfully. But I do some of these chores for myself, to feel at peace. So I don’t really mind doing those chores.

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  23. Pingback: Mundane Monday Challenge #129 : Learn Photography - Trablogger

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