What do women think about being a housewife vs working?

Question

I'm a guy and I was wondering what women think about this topic. Personally I think that it's better if the woman takes some time off when the kid is just born and then goes back to work a few years later and household chores are split 50/50 between husband and wife. I was wondering what women think about this. I understand that being a housewife takes work, but do you think it's a good way for a family to function where the woman does all the chores and the man does all the work and does almost no chores?

Edit: well I think the woman should take the time off for the first year or two (that doesn't mean that the guy won't help out taking care of the baby). However, I don't see anything logically wrong with the husband raising the kid from age 2 to say 6 or so.

But the real question: is it degrading to the woman to not have a job and do all the man's chores?

What I'm saying here is that it isn't fair to have the woman be a housewife after the first few years of raising a kid. After this responsibilities related to taking care of house should be shared and the woman should also work. What do you think about this?

Answer 1

looking after children is a job within itself because you can't take your eyes off them for second. the housewife may not be earning money but is working just as hard as if she was, so definitly think you should share chores 50/50, the same as if she was earning. at the end of the day you get to come home from your workplace, the woman is stuck at hers and is made to continue work till whatever time at night and do very disgusting jobs. you've got to ask yourself would you like to put in all those hours at your job. it depends on the woman. just because you believe this is the right thing the woman may not she may want to continue working, it's her choice and she needs to be happy too. at the end of the day it's the womans life so what ever makes her happy or else compromise - like she could take some time off work and then you could but it shouldnt be all put on the woman that its her job and she should do it. so as long as you share the chores and the woman is happy then it sound.

Answer 2

I think the contest happens when we know moms who sit on their butt all day, and do not really do much for the kdis once they can do for themselves and they want to be grouped into the mom catagory as if they deserve accolades for doing the most minimal job that they can do. Moms do not need accolades, the responsibilities that come along with having a family are what they are. There are no accolades for anyone who changes a diaper, it is necessary, it is not beyond the call of duty. My girl friend use to stress all day, that she had to get dressed, go buy a stamp, and pay a bill that day, I mean she would be mentally and physically wiped out!!!! That is not a super at home mom, she was barely doing any kind of parenting duties at all and wanted sympothy all the time because being a young mom was not fun after the cutsey stage ended and the real job kicks in. Anyhow. As you well know, the superwomen title really is given to the working parent who is also a housewife. Yes I do agree both work very hard, and being a housewife is demanding, but it is working within a smaller structure. Meaning we take the kids to school and pick them up, they may have classes or sports and we take them there too, we get up before them and prepare a meal, and make their lunch and make there dinner. We can wear as a at home mom anything we want. In our hours of down time we really can just watch tv or sleep half the day, it is our choice when the other household chores are done, and if we have given some chores to the kids we have even less to do. VS the working mom doing all that, and mainting a very structured, dress appropriately, on time for multi tasking somewhere out there in society and interact with adults on a daily basis. So I guess it is how we interpret what is a supermom, we are all supermons some are more superific than others.

Answer 3

If a guy would actually DO his share of chores, then that would be great - but most simply won't. This isn't just my opinion - there have been more studies than I can count that have said that working women do most of the chores AS WELL as working just as many hours as their husbands. As for taking some time off - why should it be the woman? Why can't it be the guy? Some men are better suited to being stay-at-home parents than their wives. In short - you can't really generalize; like any other prejudice/bias, you will get into trouble very quickly. Each family is different, and each couple needs to decide for themselves what to do when their children are born, and other people need to keep their noses out of the couple's decision.

Answer 4

I've done the stay at home mom thing with the traditional division of labor, as well as working as many hours a week as he did when my last one was in the latter part of high school.
1. He never did anything approaching half the housework and that was a serious bone of contention!
2. It is harder to survive on the lower income, but I think it was the best choice for my family to buy a lot of stuff second hand and stay home to raise them. However the kids would have turned out, I knew it was me at the helm, so I never had to wonder what they had gone through. I was there.
The traditional model works fine; that's why it was in place so long..most likely.
Now that there is practically no job security and pay and health benefits aren't what they used to be, most households couldn't do it on only one income, however. And not all moms want to stay at home with only little ones to stimulate their minds all day long.lol

Answer 5

What do I t hink about housewife vs working?? when a man works his *** off he gets paid, but when a woman works h er *** off as a housewife she doesnt get one lousy cent. Some people, mostly men,think that a women says shes a housewife, that she does nothing all day.HA!!!! Some housewifes work harder than men and all of them put in more hours.The saying certainly is true ""A womans work is never done""! When the man comes home, he can take his shoes off and relax. But the "housewife" is still working, cooking,watching kids, giving kids a bath,doing super dishes,etc.........So a man should respect a woman a hole lot more when they are housewifes.

Answer 6

I work right now and I sometimes think about having a kid so I can stay home the first few years and take care of him. Going to work every day is so monotonous and unexciting, whereas staying home and taking care of a baby would be a lot of fun. I think my house would be a lot cleaner too, and I would be more rested. I know, you'll say a baby will keep me on my toes but I think that if you stay home with a baby there will be a lot of opportunities to kick back and watch TV while the baby is resting. If I were to have a baby I would definitely stay home with him for the first few years; otherwise it is not fair to the child. Once he goes to elementary school then I'd start working again.

It doesn't take half a brain to mop the floors, dust, vacuum, etc. I don't think that's real work, but it is important stuff that has to be done. If I were to stay home with my baby, I'd probably hire a maid to supplement my house cleaning so I could spend more time with the baby. I wouldn't care if my husband cleaned or whatever, as long as he was out earning a living, I would take care of what needed to be done at home. If he felt like helping, I would let him but I wouldn't get on his case if he didn't help. I'd expect him to do the yard work and the fixing of stuff on the weekends, but that is about it. That is not to say I would pick up after him when he makes a mess or wait on him hand and foot. I'd expect him to clean up after himself if he spilled stuff, and put away his own dishes, but as far as keeping the house tidy over all, keeping the dishes and laundry done, grocery shopping, etc., I have no qualms about doing that. I would be at home all day anyway. Then when the child was in school, I would resume working and the chores would become a shared responsibility once again, although we'd probably have a maid come in once a week or whatever.

I think if a woman were to nag her husband to do chores when he came home after working, that would be petty. If she is at home with the baby, there are plenty of opportunities while the baby is asleep to tidy up the house and get the dishes done or whatever. How hard is it to start up a load of clothes, shut the washer, and then go back to the sofa and unpause your TiVo, for example? Housewives do a lot of work but they get a lot of downtime to relax too.

Once they are both working and the child is at school then they could go back to taking turns doing chores or whatever.

That's my opinion anyway.

Answer 7

I think it is best for the child when one parent is home with them until they begin school. In a marriage, I think that if the wife stays home, she should be responsible for most of the chores, leaving the heavy or dirty work to her husband (mowing the lawn, etc.)

Answer 8

i pretty much agree with the aspect of the wife taking a break when the child is born. Because she definitely doesnt expect someone else to take care of her child and i actually dont think she should be told about this if she doesnt want her child calling somebody else MUMMY.

Answer 9

It is degrading that a woman would even consider this nonsense. I would no sooner take it upon myself to be assigned any role from anybody,
I am no slouch (yes I am) I clean when and if I want (my house is clean)
If I decide to leave dishes to tomorrow fine. Any complaints, do it yourself. I often get in the zone and may go on huge cleaning blitz, sometimes out of love of my family I will cook a feast (when I get that big feeling of love and appreciation. Sometimes I feel sense of duty.

Never ever I would make toast if it became something I had to do. HA....Mary,

Answer 10

I believe on gender equality on every aspect of accomplishments... both needs equal help on work, shores, leisure etc.