Capitalist-Patriarchy: NZ Women's Work

The study focuses on eight married women in Christchurch, New Zealand, whose primary employment is part-time domestic work. Their weekly working hours vary significantly, ranging from three to nearly twenty, with an average of ten to twelve hours. The women's backgrounds and qualifications are diverse; some possess advanced qualifications or are pursuing further skills, while others lack formal qualifications. Despite this variance, all have prior work experience, and some aspire to better-paying or more fulfilling careers. A key distinction is made between the four women who are married with children and the four who are single mothers relying on social security benefits. The employment structure is predominantly one-to-one, with the women working independently for individual clients, although two work within larger organizations. This organizational context provides some security but also introduces unique challenges.

The section delves into individual case studies, illustrating the diversity of experiences within part-time domestic work. Susan, a mother of three, works sixteen to twenty hours weekly, splitting her time between cleaning at a golf club and in private residences, earning a consistent $5.00 per hour. Coral's eight-year tenure as a part-time cleaner in a hospital, while relatively well-paid due to a strong union agreement, is unfulfilling; she harbors aspirations of becoming an occupational therapist but feels it may be too late. Barbara, a single mother and university student, juggles seven hours of paid work with managing housework for her flatmate. Her background as a community nurse presents a barrier to full-time employment in nursing due to the irregular hours. Debra, having moved to Christchurch with her family, uses her school cleaning job to network and adapt to a new environment, enjoying the work due to her familiarity and skill. Francine, married with a young child, supplements her family's income by working six to eight hours weekly as a domestic helper and doing gardening; she hopes to eventually forgo the housework to focus on more enjoyable gardening.

This section examines the challenges and rewards associated with the women's part-time domestic employment. The work is often physically demanding, dirty, and repetitive, leading to feelings of fatigue and boredom among the women. The inherent futility of housework—knowing that cleaning is never truly finished—contributes to this weariness. Several women express a desire for more structure and clear expectations, preferring organized task lists to reduce uncertainty and stress. The absence of union protection increases their vulnerability, leaving them susceptible to exploitation through reduced hours, increased workloads, and the burden of providing cleaning materials. Despite these hardships, the women find some aspects rewarding, finding satisfaction in seeing the results of their labor. However, this job satisfaction is often overshadowed by the physical demands, lack of structure, and the persistent nature of the tasks.

The section explores the financial realities of the women’s part-time domestic work. For single mothers, the income provides essential financial security, raising them above mere subsistence. However, even for married women, the additional income is crucial, often necessary to offset their husband's insufficient earnings or to satisfy financial demands within the household. Navigating social security benefits presents significant challenges. The system penalizes higher earnings by reducing benefit payments, resulting in a delicate balance where women are forced to underreport income to avoid financial losses. This complicated system creates financial uncertainty, impacting their quality of life and choices regarding their work. The added income allows some to alleviate financial stress, pay necessary bills, and even occasionally enjoy some personal spending. The lack of comprehensive social support systems coupled with low wages makes it challenging for these women to effectively balance work and family responsibilities.

This section provides a broader sociological analysis, framing the women's experiences within the context of capitalism and patriarchy. The study argues that the prevalent employment patterns of these women—low-wage, part-time domestic work—are not merely individual choices but are shaped by deep-seated societal structures. Capitalism benefits from employing women at low wages, while patriarchal structures reinforce traditional gender roles, limiting women's options and pushing them into roles that support both their families and the capitalist system. Women, caught between the expectations of wife/mother and worker, are pushed to challenge these structures. The demand for fair wages for housework, which is often viewed as unpaid labor, is presented as a significant example of this pushback. The inherent conflict between the needs of capitalism (cheap labor) and patriarchy (the expectation of women as unpaid domestic servants) traps women in a system that underpays and undervalues their contributions. The study concludes that the experiences of these women are representative of a larger systemic problem and underscore the need for a critical analysis of women's roles in society within a capitalist-patriarchal system.

Susan, a married woman with three children, exemplifies the challenges of balancing family and paid domestic work. Prior to marriage, she worked as a shop assistant. Since becoming a wife and mother, she has increasingly taken on paid domestic work, currently working between sixteen and twenty hours each week. This work is split between cleaning at a golf club and in private homes, with a consistent hourly rate of $5.00. Her case highlights the common experience of married women taking on domestic roles and the limited options for higher-paying or more fulfilling work outside the domestic sphere. The significant number of hours worked underscores the substantial time commitment demanded by this type of employment, potentially impacting other aspects of her life.

Coral’s case study presents a different perspective on paid domestic work. She has worked part-time as a cleaner in a hospital for eight years, currently dedicating ten hours every weekend to the job. While the employment offers relatively good pay due to a favorable union agreement, Coral finds her work unfulfilling. Her past experience in office work and her ambition to become an occupational therapist illustrate a desire for alternative career paths. However, she feels these options are unrealistic given her family responsibilities and the difficulty of finding part-time office work that accommodates her family commitments. Her situation highlights the constraints on career progression and fulfillment imposed by the demands of balancing paid work and family life within a system that often prioritizes neither.

Barbara's story focuses on a solo mother navigating education and employment. A trained community nurse, she finds full-time nursing impossible due to irregular hours and childcare responsibilities. She works approximately seven hours per week alongside managing the housework for her flatmate, illustrating the resourcefulness often employed by single parents to balance work and family. Barbara is concurrently pursuing a university degree, demonstrating a commitment to self-improvement and career advancement despite the substantial limitations imposed by her circumstances. This example displays the complex interplay between family obligations and the desire for personal and professional growth, often limited by the availability of flexible and well-compensated jobs.

Debra's case presents a different angle on the motivations for engaging in domestic work. A former nurse-aide, she now holds a cleaning position at a local school in Christchurch, a city she recently relocated to with her family. She views this work as a means of meeting new people and adapting to her new surroundings, appreciating the aspects that resonate with her prior experience in housework. The work is a bridge to potential future employment, with Debra expressing intentions to return to nurse-aiding once her family commitments allow for it. This highlights domestic work not merely as a financial necessity, but also as a temporary occupation with potential social and networking benefits, providing a stepping stone to other employment possibilities.

Francine's situation underscores the financial necessity driving many women into domestic work. Married with a young daughter, she works six to eight hours a week as a domestic helper, her earnings essential to managing the family's daily expenses due to her husband's irregular income as a builder. She finds housework less enjoyable than gardening, which she does with a friend, highlighting a preference for alternative employment. The limited hours she works reflect the need to balance her employment with childcare responsibilities. Her situation highlights how economic necessity often shapes employment choices and leads to taking on work that isn't necessarily personally satisfying, but is essential for the family's well-being.

The section contrasts the historical experiences of domestic service in New Zealand and Britain. In New Zealand, the abundance of land and high wages and demand for labor during its colonial period allowed working-class men to establish farms and working-class women to marry men with established homes. This created a less stark class division than in Britain. However, even in this more egalitarian context, a significant servant shortage existed. Mrs. Godley's description of this shortage as "one of the great miseries of human life in New Zealand" highlights its impact despite the comparatively better economic conditions. This shortage forced women to combine multiple household duties such as cooking, general housework, and hosting social events, showcasing their adaptability and resilience in the face of limited resources.

The nature of domestic service in New Zealand has undergone a transformation. Historically, it was a skilled, full-time occupation typically held by young, unmarried women. Now, it is largely part-time work undertaken by married women who often lack alternative job skills. Despite this shift, the core problems remain. Contemporary domestic servants continue to face low pay, low status, and arduous work. Their earnings are largely supplementary to other sources of income such as social security benefits or a husband's wage, and lack of union protection leaves them vulnerable. The section implicitly highlights the persistence of socio-economic inequality and the limitations placed on women's employment choices based on traditional gender roles.

The historical context of domestic service reveals harsh working conditions and low pay. Young girls, sometimes as young as thirteen, entered domestic service directly from school, enduring strenuous work for meager wages. An advertisement from the Hawke’s Bay Herald dated January 6, 1930, serves as an example: a children's nurse could earn £1.15s a week, a sum that, although comparatively high at the time, barely exceeded the cost of a pair of women's shoes (£1.17s.6d.). This disparity highlights the economic vulnerability of domestic servants. The exploitative employer-employee dynamic, where servants were expected to be completely subservient and meet all their employers’ wishes, compounded the problem of low pay and long hours, ultimately contributing to the decline of domestic service as a popular form of employment.

The nature of contemporary domestic labor is described as physically and emotionally demanding. The work is often tiring, dirty, and repetitive, involving strenuous tasks performed in warm environments, leading to profuse sweating. Cleaning up after others can be particularly unpleasant, and the constant presence of dust contributes to a feeling of uncleanliness. Many women report needing a shower after work. Beyond the physical toll, the psychological impact is significant; the cyclical and never-ending nature of housework contributes to feelings of futility and boredom, a sentiment amplified by the monotony of the tasks. Even with the satisfaction derived from a job well done, the overall experience is often draining and unfulfilling, particularly when dealing with exceptionally demanding clients. This underscores the need to address not only the financial but also the physical and psychological impacts of this type of work.

A recurring theme is the difficulty in managing workloads and unrealistic employer expectations. Employers often provide impossibly long lists of tasks, suggesting a lack of trust and a desire to maximize the cleaner's time. This excessive workload, coupled with often drastically reduced hours, makes it impossible to provide a thorough clean. One cleaner notes that the allocated time allows only for a quick tidy, rather than a proper clean. Another indicates that the workload somehow always fits the available time, suggestive of a lack of control over the pace and scope of the work. The one-on-one relationship between cleaner and employer can also lead to pressure to perform tasks beyond the scope of the agreed work, highlighting the power imbalance and potential for exploitation in this type of employment.

Despite the negative aspects, the women do identify sources of job satisfaction. They appreciate the sense of accomplishment derived from seeing tangible results, such as cleaning woodwork or walls. The feedback from satisfied clients also enhances their sense of purpose and worth. However, this job satisfaction is often outweighed by the negative aspects of the work. The repetitive nature, lack of autonomy, and frequent unrealistic demands of employers contribute to a prevailing sense of futility and boredom. One cleaner emphasizes the importance of clear task lists and expectations to alleviate stress and uncertainty. Another describes the initial resentment at the perceived unfairness of the situation but now views the job as a mere means to an end. This shows the complex interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, where job satisfaction can be overshadowed by the inherent challenges of the employment itself.

For many of the women, the income from low-wage domestic work is crucial for financial security, particularly for single mothers. The earnings supplement social security benefits, allowing them to maintain a reasonable standard of living and avoid destitution. For married women, the additional income is often essential to keep their families above the subsistence level and to alleviate pressure on the husband's income. One woman explicitly states her gratitude for the opportunity to earn extra money and avoid financial hardship. Another highlights how the additional income takes a load off her husband, providing significant relief. The financial benefit is vital, especially in managing monthly bills and ensuring that the family does not experience periods of serious financial scarcity.

The complexities of the benefit system create significant challenges. The system penalizes income earners above a certain threshold by reducing their benefits, forcing the women to make difficult choices. This can result in financial instability; a week without incoming wages can have serious repercussions. The incentive structure makes it difficult to truly benefit from part-time work. One woman explains that exceeding the income limit leads to deductions, potentially erasing the wages earned over a whole week or more and leaving them financially worse off than if they didn't work at all. This forces many into underreporting their income to avoid losing benefit entitlements, highlighting a system that penalizes those attempting to improve their financial circumstances through low-wage employment.

The low-wage nature of the work has significant social and class implications. The women's dependence on supplementary income often stems from a lack of qualifications or skills needed for higher-paying jobs, reflecting societal and economic barriers. A comparison is made between married women who work because of insufficient husband's income and those who lost their former middle-class status after separation. The latter, often relying on social welfare, find themselves in a position where they are forced to accept low-paying domestic work due to the loss of their former career opportunities and seniority, further highlighting the economic precariousness of their positions. The stark contrast in lifestyle between some employers (working women or wives of professional men) and the employees can lead to antagonism, reflecting social inequalities embedded in the employment structure.

The study analyzes the employment situations of the women through the lens of capitalism and patriarchy. Capitalism, the text argues, exploits women as a source of cheap labor. By employing women at low wages, often part-time, the system meets its need for production while simultaneously maintaining the patriarchal structure of the family. This system benefits from women's participation in the workforce, yet wages are often insufficient to allow women complete financial independence. The women's reliance on supplementary income highlights the system's ability to utilize their labor while keeping them economically dependent, illustrating a core tension between the demands of capitalism and the realities of women's lives.

Patriarchal structures play a significant role in shaping the women's employment choices. The primary role of the housewife and mother leads women to accept part-time work, often in domestic service, limiting their opportunities for other occupations and preventing them from pursuing other careers because of their perceived 'family responsibilities.' The societal expectation that women should primarily be responsible for childcare and maintaining a home is reinforced by this system. While the women may believe they freely choose domestic service, their choices are heavily constrained by societal norms and the limitations placed on their options. This analysis suggests that their roles as low-wage workers are not solely their individual choices but are products of larger societal forces.

The study identifies a conflict between the interests of capitalism and patriarchy. Capitalism benefits from women working, but patriarchy aims to maintain women as unpaid domestic servants within the home. This conflict places women in a precarious position, trying to fulfill both roles, often unsuccessfully. This conflict is not simply a clash of ideologies but rather a system that actively pushes women into challenging their situations and the demands placed upon them. The demand for wages for housework, in essence, a demand for the recognition of housework as valuable labor, is presented as a form of resistance against this system. The women’s increasing awareness of their own small amount of power and their limited economic options encourages a push towards greater financial independence and a challenge to the established patriarchal system.

The text places the contemporary situation within a broader historical context. In pre-capitalist societies, marriage was often viewed as an economic partnership, and women participated more equally in the workforce. Capitalism, however, marginalized women's labor and fostered a patriarchal system that confined women to the domestic sphere. The study points out that while women's participation in the paid workforce is now more accepted (the 'superwoman' ideal), this is still within a framework that prioritizes their role as wife and mother above all other things. The expectation that women should maintain the home while also working outside the home, coupled with low pay and limited opportunities, creates a constant strain and highlights the ongoing tension between traditional gender roles and economic realities.