Do you agree that homemakers should be given their own degree?

Yes it exists

^^ Gosh! I didn’t know about that. Such a degree does not exist in my country. It’s great to think that other countries have appreciated and taken interests in homemaking, even though they seem to be mostly developed countries.

Not unless they can actually display proficiency in child raising and housecleaning, as well as yard work and interior decorating. And nursing. And, also, education. They need to be observed, tested and certified before being awarded some sort of degree.
Also a GPA attached.

Oh yeah. Also proof that you are are financially proficient.

^^ Which is why universities have a major for that as tests will be conducted and examined in accredited institution. All they need is subject expansion and internship for the candidates to display and prove their proficiency. I don’t think homemakers need to be financially proficient as their ultimate goal is to look for someone who agrees to pay for their lives as the exchange of their homemaking services.

It could not be widely accepted, or soon after childbearing would be disallowed for anyone not possessing a degree.

Basic skills don’t require a degree, nor should they. Degrees are for specialized knowledge and skills that are very difficult for someone to learn on their own. It’s a system that filters out who should and should not be doing certain things. Attaching a degree to something people have been doing on their own for thousands of years is a bit Orwellian.

They don’t get paid, so really, would it make a difference? And if a home maker had the time to go to college to get a degree, the home maker would certainly choose one that she/he would get a job that paid her/him.

@chyna Their future spouse will be treated as their employer. You manage a family for your spouse and get paid for it. How else could home maker get enough money to sustain themselves and their family all these times? Some people have home maker as their aspiration since childhood and/or prefer homemaking as their only career.

Good luck with getting your spouse to pay You for what you are worth!

Once they reach the age of 70, but what good is it then?

A friend of mine majored in Home Economics in college with the goal of getting a job after college and did. She worked for a women’s magazine.

Home economics was taught as an elective in high school and when I went to school, girls had sewing in 7th and 8th grade while boys had mechanical drawing.

However, I don’t think that women who want to be homemakers solely study home economics. It is not considered a profession since it is unpaid labor.

@Unofficial_Member Often being a stay at home mom means taking care of the finances as well as everything else to do with the home. That’s why they need to show financial proficiency.
In other words, in spite of having been a stay at home mom for 5 years, I did not feel I deserved any type of degree. If you go to school and declare a major, then can’t do the work, they don’t award you a degree. If you suck at being a Mom and at house keeping then you don’t deserve a degree.

I don’t think it should be a 4 year degree, but something along the lines of Home Economics certainly could be a vocational program, maybe get a certificate. I think in America it would be great to be able to get something like this, and even have a specialty where you can take extra courses on childcare or cooking.

I think we could use “professional” house helpers, or help with children, etc. We should raise the view we have of people who do this work. Most families are double income, having some help isn’t a bad idea. Also, our population is aging and needs help around the house.

I’ve been saying for years that secondary schools should not get rid of Home Ec. Whether it be 9 weeks or a semester class, we should be teaching all teens about kitchen safety, basics in cooking, how to sew on a button, how to do laundry, how to balance a bank account, fill out forms, how to pick fresh fruit in the grocery store, how to set a table, hold a fork and knife, etc. These are all part of being able to take care of yourself and someone else. If the student wants to take it further they can take sewing classes, more intensive cooking classes, and childcare classes in addition to the basic class, and maybe have the option of getting the certificate while still in high school.

I wanted to take shop in school. I wasn’t allowed to, and I wasn’t brave enough to put my foot down and demand it.
The boys were allowed to take Home Ec and they did, but only because they wanted to be around the girls.

@Dutchess_III In my school both boys and girls took Home Ec, shop, typing, and woodworking. I’m graduating class of ‘85. I know a lot of women only a few years older than me who tell me boys weren’t allowed to take Home Ec. I think it depended a lot on where you lived.

“Their future spouse will be treated as their employer. You manage a family for your spouse and get paid for it.” That just seems like an unhealthy dynamic for a relationship.

It was my experience, @JLeslie, not yours. And I did not graduate in 1985.

Ew. I agree 100% @Soubresaut.Totally archaic. I managed my house and my family for all of us. He happens be be part of my family. If my spouse tried to treat me like I was some sort of employee and had to answer to him we’d have an epic battle and I would win. If I didn’t I’d fucking leave.

^^I wasn’t trying to take away from your experience. Sorry if I bothered you.

@Dutchess_III It’s not totally archaic. It’s still being practiced in many countries that uphold that custom. In many traditional families the husband is the head of the family and responsible to earn money outside and the wife is tasked with managing the household. Managing the household isn’t free and the wife has her own needs too, and how could she manage to get these things? From the husband. It’s well known that husbands earn their own salary and housewives earn the salary from their husbands. Just being a housewife won’t net you any money. Do you think a husband want to give her wife money if she’s being lazy and doesn’t want to manage the household? You don’t manage the household for free, it can’t be free, and you need to earn money from someone to run the household if you decided to become a stay-at-home spouse as your only career. It’s simply a job descriptions for homemakers and there’s no need to think badly of it.

^^Actually, the way you word that it is archaic. It’s fine that each person in a couple takes in a role. Often the wife takes on the domestic responsibilities, but what if she works too? Then the domestic work should be divided, or bring in some help. What if she’s better at earning money? Then maybe she works more and the husband does more taking care of the household.

Are the women in your scenario making as much money as the men? What if someone is single? Not everyone is in a couple situation what if they are gay? Not everyone is in a man and wife couple situation.

Couples define for themselves how work will get done. Work that earns money and work that runs the household. It changes over time also, it’s up for negotiation. When I first got married we both worked full time and we both did chores in the house. The way I saw it, no one should have to “work” more hours than the other once you combine all hours spent between outside work and work at home. When I changed to part-time I took on almost all of the work inside the home to even it out again.

^^ Oftentimes such a thing isn’t a choice for all people around the world. In places where the custom is strong people generally wouldn’t act different than the norm. It’s nearly impossible for the wife to earn more money since people believe women should stay at home to raise the family, and if she defy the rule the prospective husband can refuse having a family with her. A single woman wouldn’t have someone to confront her life decision so that would be an exception. She simply doesn’t have a choice but to become a homemaker and breadwinner at the same time. As for gay people, such a thing does not exist in many countries since often times it’s illegal to have non-traditional family.

I agree with what you said but unfortunately not all parts of the world work like that so the truth couldn’t be said for all. I believe no one will have any qualm getting salary from their spouse in general, especially if the society enforce such a thing.

^^We are actually agreeing. Some parts of the world are archaic, and the women living in those places aren’t free to pursue their desires, their happiness, their goals. Moreover, the men have little choice also. They are given the full burden of supporting the family. See, the less choice women have, then actually the less choice men have. Men just sometimes fail to see it. Every gender has more freedom when both genders are treated as equals.

Edit: I should probably say all people or all genders.

@Unofficial_Member, when we owned the shop my husband was, legally and literally, my employee. Do you think I ever referred to him has that? Hell no. It would have been insulting to him, and to be considered my husband’s “employee” would be insulting to me. Get over your me have big dick macho shit.