How to become A Homemaker

While bricks and mortar build sturdy walls, it is the skills and dedication of a Homemaker that transform a house into a livable home. Homemakers look after households for themselves and the people residing with them.

• Family Manager
• Home Economist
• Home Engineer

What do Homemakers do?

A Homemaker would typically need to:

• Look after the nutritional, clothing, medical, and other needs of the members of the household
• Take care of housekeeping (cooking, cleaning, laundry), home decoration, home management (managing household resources), banking, household finances, and budgeting
• Ensure infant, child, and teenager care; teach children social etiquette and maintain discipline; ensure vaccination schedules are up-to-date
• Supervise homework & school projects, attend school events & meetings and organize children’s social & extracurricular activities
• Administer first aid and maintain the medicine cabinet; care for adult members of the household who are ill or infirm
• Keep good relations among members of the household and with extended family, relatives, and neighbors; organize and attend social get-togethers
• Manage inventory; buy groceries and supplies; run household errands and make trips to the doctor, vet, bank, post office, etc.
• Transport household members to and from their daily activities; service vehicles
• Handle and maintain household equipment; carry out or arrange home repairs; coordinate service and repair calls; take care of the garden; manage household staff
• Celebrate significant family days and festivals; buy gifts as needed; volunteer to work in their community

Homemakers work in diverse physical surroundings, depending mainly on family income, neighborhood, and housekeeping skills. They may need to travel throughout the day to perform various duties or activities. Homemakers do not have a uniform or dress code.

A Homemaker usually has a flexible work schedule that may allow leisure or work activities inside and outside the household. Homemakers spend varying periods in their occupations, and the needs of every family are different. On average, those without an outside job spend 18 hours a week on childcare compared with 11 hours for those employed.

Researchers’ analysis of time-use data also shows that stay-at-home Homemakers devote more time to child care, housework, leisure, and sleep than do their employed counterparts, including spending an extra seven hours each week on childcare. Full-time Homemakers work round the clock, many combining household duties with professional roles. Responsibilities towards other household members may require extended hours at night and on weekends.

A Homemaker is not employed by any person or organization but discharges responsibilities as a household member.

Homemakers are generally employed by:

• Themselves

In the absence of formal unions or professional organizations for Homemakers, they can become members of clubs and societies, associations at school, and local, regional, national, or international non-governmental organizations for social work.

• Physical fatigue due to overwork; emotional and mental stress; lack of sleep or personal time; low self-esteem; isolation
• Imbalance in sharing of household responsibilities among family members; mismatch between resource availability, allocation, and demand
• Musculoskeletal disorders; worsening health with unwelcome role expansion; bruises, cuts, burns, or other injuries through household work
• Insufficient intellectual stimulation; boredom due to monotony or repetitive work

Experience is typically acquired through hands-on work. Internships, voluntary or paid, at retirement homes, childcare centers, or schools may be useful.

There are no minimum educational requirements for Homemakers. They learn such skills as cooking, cleaning, and child care informally at home. Individuals can prepare themselves for homemaking by taking high school and college courses in family, home & consumer science, psychology, sociology, mathematics, and first aid.

Contact experienced Homemakers for suggestions on ways to improve homemaking skills. There are many online or vocational courses, books, magazines, and television and radio programs that teach homemaking skills.

A Homemaker requires no official certification, license, or registration.

Many Homemakers believe that personal satisfaction in managing their home and other household members is the highest form of advancement. Others view a decrease in the number of chores or an increase in household income as a form of promotion. It is the incumbent and the individual members of the household who define the role of Homemakers and their betterment.

Since homemaking is not a formal job, there is no standard advancement in the field. However, homemaking skills improve with experience. For instance, as Homemakers become more experienced consumers, they often learn to make smarter and more efficient use of available resources.

Occupational growth comes from experience at work, interaction with others, the possibility of skill enrichment through vocational courses or media-based resources.

We Are What We Choose to Be

Becoming a Homemaker is a personal choice and career decision. Many women (and some men) leave their former occupations to become Homemakers. Most people become Homemakers when they acquire and accept the responsibility of caring for a home and its occupants. Usually, other household members work outside the house to provide the Homemaker with adequate resources to care for the family.

Share the Responsibilities and Lighten the Load

When Homemakers have full-time or part-time jobs outside the home, or even if they do not, two or more household members may agree to share the work of running a home. Homemakers spend varying periods in their occupations, and the needs of every household differ.

The careers of Homemakers are flexible and diverse. A Homemaker may choose to perform general housekeeping chores and personal services or delegate them to other household members or household staff. Every household is unique, and each Homemaker’s duties vary according to criteria such as ages of family members, their habits, health, needs, preferences, and incomes.

What Do Studies Show?

Demographic studies show that choices vary for men and women about placing children/elders in care or staying at home for family duties. A significant proportion of mothers withdraw from employment after childbirth based on calculations of their ability to balance work and family responsibilities.

Worldwide, more than a quarter of adults – 27% of women and 29% of men – prefer families with stay-at-home women. Developing countries in South Asia and the Middle East, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, have relatively high proportions of adults who like women to play homemakers’ roles. In contrast, developed countries in Europe, including Denmark, Italy, and Sweden, generally have relatively low proportions of adults with such preferences. In between are developing and developed countries such as Brazil, China, Russia, and the United States, where about one-quarter of men and women prefer families with stay-at-home women.

Generally, men have higher rates of preference for stay-at-home women, but not always. In Denmark, India, Japan, and Sweden, women’s preferences for families with women as Homemakers exceed those of men. Preferences for stay-at-home women also vary by age group. Women and men aged 30 years and over have more significant preferences for stay-at-home women than those below age 30. Childbirth and child-rearing are critical factors behind such preferences.

Practical considerations, including childcare costs and lack of access to suitable facilities, also play a role. In the United States, for example, childcare can cost more than college. With no government option for young children’s care, nearly 60 percent of American parents report that they cannot find reliable, affordable childcare near their homes.

Research done across 28 countries shows a small but statistically significant and robust happiness advantage for Homemakers compared to full-time working wives. With Homemakers holding their own, the antiquated notion that homemaking is a thankless job finds less support today.

Increasing awareness that employment does not equal satisfaction is fueled by media valorization of Homemakers and intensive parenting. Several mediating variables such as the family income, the perceived fairness of the division of household labor, number of children in the household, gender ideology, religious services attendance, and family stress are significantly related to the happiness Homemakers experience.

Most women and men worldwide no longer subscribe to the proverb “a woman’s place is in the home” and prefer that women pursue paid employment. Nevertheless, gender differences and human reproduction will likely result in more women playing the Homemaker role than men.

“Housewife emphasizes an “old-fashioned” devotion to the husband, while “homemaker” (and “stay-at-home mom”) shifts the focus to the children.

A Homemaker is someone who takes on the extensive and often challenging responsibilities of managing the ever-changing needs of a household and its members. Although it is not a lucrative job to ensure that daily family life runs as smoothly as possible, it is still cherished the world over as one that affords success and satisfaction, which are not necessarily quantifiable.

Do what works for you.