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Housework

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Abstract

Housework consists of childrearing and the satisfaction of basic human needs through the provision of meals, clothing and shelter within the home. The functioning of the home economy ensures reproduction while it maintains adults so that they can engage in paid work outside the home. Housework is an essential part of an economic and social system because it not only provides essential services but also helps to maintain the unequal class structure. Within the home, children learn their place in the social structure while they prepare for their place in the labour market.

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© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

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Brown, C., Preece, A. (2018). Housework. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1211

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