Division of Labor When You Work From Home

by Kori Rodley Irons | More from this Blogger

17 Feb 2007 10:16 AM

Figuring out who does what around the house can be tough enough when both spouses or parents work outside the home (and even for a single parent who may share some of the domestic duties with his or her older children), but I wanted to explore how household chores and labor get divided up when one of the parents or partners runs a home business.

Organizing family life and work, and managing time is definitely a challenge, but I'm interested in whether individuals who work from home offices are doing more of the grocery shopping, housekeeping, child care, and miscellaneous family "stuff" simply because they are closer to home? At first, it might make sense that the person who is "in the home" would be managing the household tasks, but is that really fair? If the same individual were doing the exact same work outside the home, would household labor be more fairly divided?

As many reports and studies have shown, the fact is that most women--regardless of whether they work outside the home or not--do the bulk of the household and child care tasks in a family. This has been what is referred to as the "second shift"--women working a full time job outside the home and then coming home to take care of all the cleaning, cooking, and other things necessary in running a family. Is it left up to the individual who is running his or her own home business to stand up and demand that the work or job be treated with as much concern and respect as a more traditional job? Or, is it a matter of being practical and efficient in terms of who does what?

I would love to hear from some of you who've started your own home businesses and work at home. I know that many people start working from home as a way to raise their own children (not pay child care or depend on others for caretaking) and still bring in an income and/or build a business or career, but how is the other labor--grocery shopping, laundry, running errands, cleaning house, etc. being divided up when one wage-earner is working from a home-based business?

Learn more about Kori Rodley Irons

Bio has been removed by administrator

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger