Every person — mainly women — who spends time at home cooking, cleaning, looking after children, gardening, doing laundry, managing the household or caring for the elderly or disabled will tell you that it is tiring and emotionally draining work. They will also tell you that it is skilled work. Consider what it takes to cook a dinner for six with multiple dietary needs, look after a baby or take care of elderly parents.
Domestic work exists in a space between a service that was “traditionally” unpaid and the booming care sector that — especially post-Covid — is considered essential. In this grey area, the skills needed to perform domestic work, including providing care within the home, are often denied and almost always undervalued.
