ABSTRACT
Home maintenance work done for one’s family is not seen as work. The mythology of housework, whether in terms of the maintenance of a western-style condominium or an African compound, declares that housework is a personal service. In all nations the state has ‘higher priorities’ than paying for women’s agricultural or domestic work because they benefit from the present arrangement. Society outside the family benefits economically from this work through the education and care provided for children and through the maintenance of male workers which allows them to return to work clean, fed, clothed and rested at minimal cost to the employers. Women are responsible for being sensitive to the emotional, as well as the physical needs of their families, nurturing their members, and supporting them in times of trial or conflict, – in essence, supporting the family and keeping it stable.
