...when people begin to talk about this domestic duty as not merely difficult but trivial and dreary, I simply give up the question. For I cannot with the utmost energy of imagination conceive what they mean. When domesticity, for instance, is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colorless and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheets, cakes and books, to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.
My husband and I made these calculations several decades ago. Not because I wanted to work, I wanted to be a SAHM, but for life insurance purposes. We were surprised at how much he would need to replace everything I did should something happen to me. Now that I am thinking of it, this could be a more "value neutral" way to make the calculations for a particular family. We revisited it in a later year when finances were extra tight. However, because I was homeschooling our children, and we both considered that to be our best educational option, adding the cost of private school on top of the other expenses made it a no brainer for me to stay at home. And, BTW, it is not as if school takes up no time from a parent. So much of our perceptions these days are based on Points of View that are half blind. Homeschooling, for example, takes fewer hours than most people imagine. And you have a better opportunity to train your children and teach them how to do much around the house, adding some extra labor to the home work force precisely during the years it is most needed. :)
I want to cut the total tax for the lower income brackets for precisely this reason. The turnaround charge for a plumber and landscaper legally trading services is brutal. A 20% tax in each direction means a 36% tax on the exchange. (Each side keeps 80% so 80% of 80% is 64%, which is 36% less than 100%.
I want to make the labor tax a flat 10% for the first 50K or even 100K of individual income. Then add an additional 5% for each big tic on the log graph (x2,5,10,20,50,100...) Withholding could then be a simple 10% federal.
And I'd replace FICA and Medicare taxes with consumption taxes: tariffs, carbon tax, national sales tax for interstate transactions, whatever.
All these things are forthcoming in the next Rule. I hesitate to publish it as it will make Reaganoids cry.
I'm not trying to insist housework is not boring. A lot of it is.
However, I found raising my children to be anything but boring.
And, quite frankly, are we really going to posit that most jobs don't have lots of boring moments to them?
I'm just saying, let's be real and let's stop assuming that jobs women have outside of the home are necessarily more exciting. It's not like they all get amazing jobs that fulfil their potential while not causing a number of times when they agonize over being split between two priorities, job and children. I truly tried to support my working mom friends, but I also observed and I wouldn't have traded places with any of them. Not even for a day.
As to point #5; it's true that most work at home is boring, but isn't most work out of home also boring? And aren't there jobs that are dirty, uncomfortable, and/or dangerous?
Absolutely true. As a homemaker I work far more than 40 hours per week and much of that is about saving our bottom line, making food from scratch, being able to shop thrifty because I have the time to plan for it, fixing things instead of buying new stuff, childcare, etc.
Besides the finances, though, there's also the issue of leisure time. Leisure is the Basis of Culture, as Josef Pieper wrote. A lot of housework still needs to be done, even after outsourcing. If no one has time to do anything but work, work, work, where does our culture go? Culture isn't profitable. That might be one of the biggest losses, for both men and women, from women entering the workforce.
...when people begin to talk about this domestic duty as not merely difficult but trivial and dreary, I simply give up the question. For I cannot with the utmost energy of imagination conceive what they mean. When domesticity, for instance, is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colorless and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheets, cakes and books, to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.
GK Chesterton
great analysis! I don't think we could afford to have my wife work outside the home. Sometimes it feels like we can barely afford my work.
My husband and I made these calculations several decades ago. Not because I wanted to work, I wanted to be a SAHM, but for life insurance purposes. We were surprised at how much he would need to replace everything I did should something happen to me. Now that I am thinking of it, this could be a more "value neutral" way to make the calculations for a particular family. We revisited it in a later year when finances were extra tight. However, because I was homeschooling our children, and we both considered that to be our best educational option, adding the cost of private school on top of the other expenses made it a no brainer for me to stay at home. And, BTW, it is not as if school takes up no time from a parent. So much of our perceptions these days are based on Points of View that are half blind. Homeschooling, for example, takes fewer hours than most people imagine. And you have a better opportunity to train your children and teach them how to do much around the house, adding some extra labor to the home work force precisely during the years it is most needed. :)
For the win!
I want to cut the total tax for the lower income brackets for precisely this reason. The turnaround charge for a plumber and landscaper legally trading services is brutal. A 20% tax in each direction means a 36% tax on the exchange. (Each side keeps 80% so 80% of 80% is 64%, which is 36% less than 100%.
I want to make the labor tax a flat 10% for the first 50K or even 100K of individual income. Then add an additional 5% for each big tic on the log graph (x2,5,10,20,50,100...) Withholding could then be a simple 10% federal.
And I'd replace FICA and Medicare taxes with consumption taxes: tariffs, carbon tax, national sales tax for interstate transactions, whatever.
All these things are forthcoming in the next Rule. I hesitate to publish it as it will make Reaganoids cry.
You had my support right up until "carbon tax,"
We are all carbon-based life forms. We breathe carbon, and we exhale carbon. So you're thinking of taxing us for breathing.
The Carbon tax is a political idea for a slush fund. It allows the government to take in money for doing nothing at all.
Drop that and you've got my support.
Oh, and BTW, I was never bored being a SAHM.
I'm not trying to insist housework is not boring. A lot of it is.
However, I found raising my children to be anything but boring.
And, quite frankly, are we really going to posit that most jobs don't have lots of boring moments to them?
I'm just saying, let's be real and let's stop assuming that jobs women have outside of the home are necessarily more exciting. It's not like they all get amazing jobs that fulfil their potential while not causing a number of times when they agonize over being split between two priorities, job and children. I truly tried to support my working mom friends, but I also observed and I wouldn't have traded places with any of them. Not even for a day.
Straight down the middle, man. Excellent.
As to point #5; it's true that most work at home is boring, but isn't most work out of home also boring? And aren't there jobs that are dirty, uncomfortable, and/or dangerous?
Yes, I agree (check out my latest post here), but included that for the sake of steelmanning my position.
Absolutely true. As a homemaker I work far more than 40 hours per week and much of that is about saving our bottom line, making food from scratch, being able to shop thrifty because I have the time to plan for it, fixing things instead of buying new stuff, childcare, etc.
Besides the finances, though, there's also the issue of leisure time. Leisure is the Basis of Culture, as Josef Pieper wrote. A lot of housework still needs to be done, even after outsourcing. If no one has time to do anything but work, work, work, where does our culture go? Culture isn't profitable. That might be one of the biggest losses, for both men and women, from women entering the workforce.
Yeah, massive loss. Culture is what you do. Culture is not what media you consume.