'Huisvrouwelijke' arbeid. Technologie en tijdsbesparing sinds het Interbellum

Samenvatting

Housewives' Work: Technology and Labour Saving Services since the Second World War. Until the 1970s, the division of labor between male breadwinner and "housewife" implied that housework was a female prerogative or duty. Following the arguments of Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Ruth Oldenziel and Carolien Bouw play down the impact of household technology on the housewife's time-consuming and onerous tasks. This article shows to what extent household technology made burdensome tasks much lighter and changed the nature of these tasks. The insights are based on in-depth interviews and an analysis of neglected reports about time spent on housework in 1955, 1964, and 1984. Moreover it shows that the time-saving effects accounted for a third of the time spent in household tasks. So in spite of the importance of the adoption of new strategies such as hiring services, buying ready-made goods, and leaving out or sharing tasks, the impact of modern amenities and technology should not be underestimated. 4 Tables, 38 References. Adapted from the source document.