Should women be paid for household work?
In today’s date, we call women homemakers, no matter they work or not. It clearly means women are the ones taking a part of the load of the household. Although, I do not think ‘women should be paid for household work.’ Working for the household and contributing towards it is a responsibility of each and every member of the household. While women do household work at home, at the same time men work too, in order to earn for a living and make a contribution towards the household. If one thinks women should be paid for household work, men must be paid too for working and earning for the household, to be fair.
A building stand tall only if it’s base is strong enough to hold it firm. A household works the same way. A household’s base is the strong bond between the family members and they all contribute to it equally. A man and woman both have similar intentions in context of the household and they both work equally to make it work, just like men and women work equally and stand equally in a society. The “paying principle” cannot work here, as it stands null and void. Although, if the house help is working for a household and helping it flourish, then that is a completely different case and must be treated specially. The house help must be paid on a regular basis as that is somebody’s occupation and that is their way to earn a living for themselves and make their household work.
Of course, I am not trying to imply that a woman should work rigorously all day like slave to complete the household work. Instead, as I said, this is the responsibility of all the members of the household hence every member should play their part and help in finishing the household work. There needs to be a proper balance in the household and it must be constantly maintained and carried out in order to create a peaceful atmosphere. Also, from the equality point of view, paying the woman of the house for doing household chores can prove to be unfair hence, not justifiable. Man and woman must help each other in all household chores, especially household work that not only housewives do, but also working women. Hence, women should not be paid for household work, but men and women together, should make sure work is equally divided amongst the family members, so that it feels like an actual chore rather than a burden a single person.
A woman myself,
Shubhangini Shaktawat