ABSTRACT
Domestic work in Britain in the 1990s has been defined as ‘unpaid work undertaken in the household by household members for themselves or other members of the household’ (Williams 1988). This definition is able to accommodate the various forms of household, as well as domestic work undertaken by people of different ages, sexes, or roles (rather than being the sole province of women who are housewives). A broad definition is required, because the nature of households is changing. Not only is there a larger number of single parent families, but there is an increasing proportion of single adult households and working spouses. Also, owner occupied dwellings increased to 61% of all households in 1981 (OPCS 1986, 1988). This change suggests an increase in the number of people responsible for the repair and maintenance of their own homes. Taken together, these changes are likely to increase the domestic workload, because a wider range of domestic tasks will be involved, and the responsibility for the tasks is increasingly borne by
individuals rather than shared. Of these individuals, some might be expected to be experts, others novices. Although experts may experience few problems performing tasks, less effort expended on them would release time for other work or leisure activities. In the case of novices, and people with special needs, difficulties with particular domestic tasks may arise. For example, persons with osteoarthritis of the hip joints are likely to have limited mobility and so may be unable to clean their homes acceptably.
