ABSTRACT
The work females do is widely assumed to be central to the support of families. The majority of the women who are not counted in the labour force are generally classified as 'housekeepers' or 'housewives'. The economic conditions obtaining in the rural areas of Southeast Asia dictate a reassessment of concepts and methods better to understand the nature of women's work. Work is defined as the production of goods and services for the market or for home consumption. Work in the family farm, trade or business, as well as wage work, including domestic service, are part and parcel of the family calculus for survival. The changes in the nature of women's work over the women's lifetimes have been investigated through intensive, in-depth interviews of selected women geared towards reconstructing their life story. Bantigue occupies about 560 hectares in the western coast of Pagbilao Bay. More than half of the village land area was planted to rice.
