ABSTRACT
The concentration of historical writing on domestic service in the nineteenth and twentieth century’s colours Bridget Hill’s essays too deeply, and provides further impetus for a new book on the earlier period. The history of early modern youth has offered the most promising departures, but while the authors’ passing interest in domestic service is understandable, less so was their relative lack of concern over gender. Anxieties generated by the employment of staff when high proportions of women are returning to work after childbirth — especially the employment of nannies — have been a persistent theme in the debate on gender and the ‘future of work’. The degree to which gender and variation in household size affect the nature of domestic labour will swifdy become apparent as service work is sifted into drudging ‘housewifery’ and the ‘idle luxury’ performed in the largest households. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
