@restlesslens @tracydurnell @jayeless During the periods of my life when I was doing care work at home, I kept in mind how much it would have cost us to pay someone else to do what I was doing (bookkeeping; bill paying; around-the-clock childcare; taking care of our pets; house cleaning; gardening; menu planning; grocery shopping; cooking; household shopping; home decorating; driving; household organization and decluttering; laundry service; holiday and special events planning, set-up and tear-down; scheduling and managing home / car repairs).

But let’s set aside childcare, which is notoriously expensive.

It still costs a pretty penny to hire a bookkeeper, a house cleaning service, a landscaper, a private chef, a private car service, a veterinary tech, a dog walker, a cat sitter, a private home health aid, an errand running service, an interior decorator, a laundry service, an event planner, a professional organizer, a personal secretary, and someone to house-sit while a contractor is in your home making a repair.

Whatever we may think of “productivity culture” and its relationship to capitalism, homemakers are highly productive. Iceland noticed their impact in 1975.

Unpaid, but productive.