Abstract

DELFINO, Andrea  and  LOGIODICE, Luisina. Time, work and family. The feminist critique of the New Household Economics. Trab. soc. [online]. 2022, vol.23, n.38, pp.583-600.  Epub Jan 01, 2022. ISSN 1514-6871.

This paper proposes a partial genealogy of the theoretical link between the concepts of timework-family within the economy. This involves a particular examination of three specific moments. It first revises the initial conceptualization of household work done in the 1930’s by the Canadian researcher Margaret Reid. It then explores the reintroduction of the household production problem as part of the orthodox economy during the 1960’s. Lastly, it reviews the critique made by the feminist economics perspective concerning the main premises of the New Household Economics (NED), focusing on the questionings made by what has been called the "second revolution". The main reasons used in these questionings revolve around four areas: a) criticism of a unitary family type, b) criticism to the model of female specialization within the household given the "comparative advantages", c) criticism towards the market's spontaneous and automatic adjustment mechanisms, and d) challenging the lack of acknowledgement of the State as a determinant of the economic behavior of families.

Keywords : household work; family; feminist economics; new household economics.

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