Ruth Schwartz Cowan
The machine came in, the helpers went out
A labour-saving machine mostly saves someone else's labour
More Work for Mother, 1983; figures from 'Less Work for Mother?', American Heritage 38:6, 1987
Every appliance is in the house and the work is still all yours. Whose labour did the machines actually save?
What actually happened?
In 1918 General Electric advertised its vacuum cleaner as better than a maid: it doesn't quit, get drunk, or demand higher wages. The claim was accurate. Between 1910 and 1920 the number of Americans in household service fell from 1,851,000 to 1,411,000 while the number of households rose from 20.3 million to 24.4 million. "What Maggie had once done with a broom, Mrs. Smith was now doing with a vacuum cleaner."
It replaced the helper, not the chore
The vacuum cleaner arrived in the same years the servant left. For households that could once afford help, that meant one thing: the woman of the house was doing more housework than ever, and the time studies show it as longer hours for Mrs. Smith.
A new efficiency system goes in, and the entries an assistant used to key for everyone are now keyed by everyone.
The washer came in, the laundress went out
Early in the century many homes hired a laundress or used a steam laundry, found by the 1920s in almost every urban neighbourhood. The home washer finished both: her labour was unpaid, so one machine looked cheaper than paying someone forever.
The expenses software launches and finance stops processing receipts; you photograph and file every one yourself.
The car made her the delivery service
The iceman, the milkman, the grocer, the seamstress and the doctor all used to come to the door. Once she could drive, businesses dropped delivery and doctors kept to their offices. Her job description gained a line: chauffeur.
Every new 'self-service' option is a stretch of somebody else's work handed to you.
The men's share went first
The book runs back to about 1700. Cooking used to take several people: the wife at the hearth, husband and sons cutting and hauling wood. Stoves, gas and electricity removed the men's and children's share first. Hers stayed, and became hers alone.
The dishwasher arrives, and whoever used to help with the washing-up quietly stops coming into the kitchen.
How do I use it today?
Where you are: every machine is in the house, you are still the busiest person in it, and saying so sounds ungrateful.
Ask first: before this machine arrived, how many people did this job, whose share did the machine remove, and whose share was left?
Where it goes wrong: reading it as 'the machines are useless'. She says plainly that nobody wants the washboard back. The point is the other column of the ledger: the effort went, and the helpers went with it, so what needs discussing is how many people the remaining work was meant for.
Lines to keep
The vacuum replaced the maid, not the sweeping.
The delivery man is gone; the delivering is not.
Each new self-service is a slice of someone's job, now yours.
Same situation, other people are asking
Everything I do at home counts as nothing.I'm on my feet all day and I'm told I don't work.It always ends up being me.Every machine is in the house and the work is still all mine.The work at home doesn't count · all 4 questions →If this one named what you are going through,
send it to someone who needs it, or keep it somewhere you will find it again.