housework n : the work of cleaning and running a house [syn: housekeeping]

English

Noun

1. Domestic household chores such as cleaning and cooking

Translations

• Finnish: kotityöt p, taloustyöt p
• Swedish: hushållsarbete

House work is a specific work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee, related to or used in the running of a household.

House work can be divided into two categories, indoor and outdoor. Indoor chores might include cooking, setting the table and washing dishes; cleaning, sweeping, vacuuming, dusting and mopping; laundry and ironing; lifting and carrying things, putting things away; child and elder care; paying bills. Outdoor work can include decorative and vegetable garden care, lawn and grounds maintenance, animal care, snow removal, driveway maintenance, outbuilding maintenance.

In traditional economic analysis, such house work performed by members of the household are not included in economic output. However, Feminist economists have argued that housework is a vital part of the economy and society. An early text discussing housework is Proverbs 31, describing an ideal wife who "looks after her family's needs." (verse 27 GNB).