I wouldn't call it a career, work or a job, because to me that involves getting a salary for the things you do. I'm not trying to diminish the stuff housewives do because I'm sure it's a lot to take care of and I do think they deserve respect just like anyone else. It's a lot of cooking, cleaning and taking care of others, so naturally I think it's a good thing. But I don't see it as a job the way I see "real" jobs, as in working for money. I work in a kitchen where I constantly do a lot of cleaning and I help out with the cooking, but when I come home to cook and clean I don't think it's a "job" in the same sense that me working in the kitchen is a job. At home I'm doing it because I don't want to live in a filthy apartment, and I like eating good food. At work I do it because ultimately, it's what gives me money.
But like I said, it doesn't mean it's not a respectable choice to make. It's just not really the same as a real job. There are some similarities, but not really enough for me to see it as one.10 Reply
Most Helpful Opinions
+1 yYes, it’s very respectable, but not everyone can afford that lifestyle. There’s really an art to it that’s lost a lot of respect over the years due to the need for women to work. Women now don’t have the luxury to stay home watch over their children as often as they used to. Being a stay home mom wasn’t necessarily just stay home, cleaning and looking after the house. Some handled the family finances and others practiced the art of homesteading while being more available to their children for helping with home work and their overall rearing.
40 Reply
I voted yes, assuming this was agreed upon by the husband and wife and the husband makes enough to sustain this lifestyle comfortably. Having a housewife makes life easier because there is no stress of worrying about cost of childcare or a babysitter. The wife is home to take care of the kids. One parent is there for the kids so the kids have a stable and disciplined environment. Also, when the kids are at school, she can get the house cleaned and figure out what needs to be done at the family level. This might sound very 1950s-like, but this really makes dividing responsibilities easier. In this dynamic, the housewife would and should be treated as an equal. Maintaining a home is equally as hard and important as a job.
10 Reply
+1 yIt's way more respectable than having a career.
A housewife is some child's mother.
A career woman is just her boss's stooge. Working hard to make somebody else rich isn't respectable. Not even the people you work so hard for respect you, why should random strangers?21 Reply
What Girls & Guys Said
Opinion
47Opinion
If they are doing it willingly, very respectable. It's not really an option for many though, since you need both paychecks, unless the man have a higher paying job.
But caring for a household and possibly children along side it, is a big commitment. Especially if it's an actual house that's being lived in. Overall I have respect for women who do this. Too much of things and things we do in this modern day are measured by monetary gains. Not everything can be or should be measured in that way. So yes, caring for a household and raising your children is very respectable in my opinion20 Reply
+1 yCareer: an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress. -Oxford
Sounds like motherhood to me. Compensation is not required for a persons “work” to be a career.
The same question and analysis can be applied to Stay at Home Dads.12 Reply- +1 y
HEY EVERYBODY!!
Career: an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress. -Oxford
Sounds like motherhood to me. Compensation is not required for a persons “work” to be a career.
The same question and analysis can be applied to Stay at Home Dads.
1.1K opinions shared on Education & Career topic. It’s not a career. In a career, you get paid. A housewife, to me, is an unpaid, live in domestic servant. She cooks, cleans and takes care of the kids. No advancement. Constantly under appreciated. Sometimes even disrespected or abused.
219 Reply- +1 y
It’s a sad day to see a comment like this.
You do get that being a housewife is a choice, right? - +1 y
Yes, because as history will tell us. You had to have kids, while you were young, and you had to have multiple children.
Why? Survival rate.
Our generation is the first generation to experience unprecedented human behavior. Children are a luxury now. It is no longer about survival. More life choices and life styles are presented. - +1 y
Oh, I see what you did there. Clever gal.
Are you suggesting that being a housewife, or stay at home dad for that matter, is domestic servitude? - +1 y
But should your partner want to be either a housewife or househusband, does that change your level of respect for them?
- +1 y
Are you always this hostile to people who challenge your views?
- +1 y
You wouldn’t have to repeat anything if you expanded further on your position. And continuously making it a point that you are having to repeat yourself, as if I suffer from a cognitive disability, makes you seem like an ass. So, stop it.
- +1 y
But.. Ma’am, you’re not making your point clear. That’s what I’m trying to get out of you. You stated your opinion. And you’re just leaving it out to dry. For example, you view being a stay at home parent is equivalent to domestic servitude. Indentured servant basically.
- +1 y
Care to expand on that?
- +1 y
Great job. 👍🏽
I suppose it depends on where you live, but in this economy in the United States (unless you are somewhat wealthy), it takes two working partners to support a family. Even with myself and my partner making decent money, I wouldn't feel comfortable trying to bring a child into the world.
Unless I moved to a country with better medical support and proper wages.10 ReplyIT'S NOT A CAREER. Might be a respectable decision, depending on the situation in the household but IT'S NOT A CAREEEERRRRRRR.
RAAAWWWRRRR31 ReplyI would absolutely appreciate and love my wife for doing her thing. Being a housewife taking care of us both and the kids. I'd also make sure to be a responsible husband and fulfill my duties. (providing, protecting, caring, loving) and satisfying my wife.👌 💪 Definitely respected.
10 Reply
+1 yIt’s not a career. But it’s still respectable. A career is not even the same thing as a job. So, being a housewife is a role, but not a career.
21 Reply453 opinions shared on Education & Career topic. They're absolutely Not my type of woman but i won't judge those, who go for it. My type of woman is the one, who carries her own weight like many of us do.
modern survival is all about the money. You need it to buy food to eat, a place to stay, sleep and for hobbies and also for healthcare. We no longer have to defend our tribes from wildlife, barbarians or the apex predators. most of us are now enslaved by the money and the government.10 ReplyNever really thought if it as a career but given that family is the most important facet of a persons life taking care of that family and enabling them to succeed is certainly a highly respectable choice.
30 Replyyes it is, it's hard work. I actually find working and having a career easier to it, and therefore would opt for that. I admire housewives and don't think they should be shamed, but its not for me. I also find it ironic that men want housewives and traditional submissive women, but also accuse them of being gold diggers and complain about being the main providers.
11 Reply661 opinions shared on Education & Career topic. Yes, if that's what she wants to do. Or he. I have a friend whose wife had a good executive job and he stayed home and raised the kids and only worked part time at a sporting goods store. If your marriage is a partnership and one of you earns enough to pay the bills, and it is agreeable to both, nothing wrong with it. Though I would think it would be boring af, personally.
10 Reply
+1 yBeing a stay at home parents is a full time job within itself, so yes I’d say is quite respectable. My only thing is, this day and age not many can afford to have only one income in the household. But if you have the means then why not?
20 Reply- 592 opinions shared on Education & Career topic.
+1 yI wouldn't call it a career, but its definetly respectable.
22 Reply- +1 y
I can't think of one better fitting at this moment.
It could be because i am not a native English speaker 🤷♂️
But once i thought of something i let you know.
+1 yWhen I get married and have kids, I would love it if my wife would stay home to raise the kids and do housework. I dont want some strangers, who are understaffed, to raise my kids. The kids would have a better childhood, the woman would be more fulfilled. It just works.
10 Reply
+1 yWhether it is a career or not, I cherish it. Respectable? Very much so, I say more so than a career due to the selfless aspect that comes with it, honorable.
30 Reply632 opinions shared on Education & Career topic. In my mind I see it as one of the greatest things a woman can do. And I mean that in the most respectful way, giving birth to a life, raising it, molding it instilling your ideals and morals into it. To be a good person and go out and do good/great things in the world, there's no greater calling to me.
00 ReplyDo you think women who don't work and stay home with their kids are worthless and not needed in modern society?
39 Reply- +1 y
Cheaper? You realize they cost money, right? And the costs often cancel out the money the woman is earning from her job?
Why pay someone else to raise your kids when you can do it?
Why do preschool/daycare teachers have "respectable careers" according to you, but mothers do not?
Also the woman needs to be able to breastfeed for the 2 years recommended by doctors. - +1 y
What daycare are you going to where it cancels out the earnings from a job? If the woman gets appropriate training then daycare should be little problem to pay for. And someone else isn't raising your kids, your kid is exploring the world.
Those preschool teachers are paid and trained and have accountability for what they do, and allow families to work and bring income into their household.
Also, on the breastfeeding:
1. Doctors support formula.
2. Breastfeeding is an option before and after daycare.
3. Of course the mother can and should take a break from her job if she has a newborn. Staying at home is needless, however. - +1 y
Actually, society are extremely shortsighted if they cannot see the direct connection and value of housewives and children to a country's wealth and GDP and they're fools!
I think it definitely IS if that’s what the woman wants to do and it works well with her husband and the overall goals of the family.
30 ReplyI don't see being a housewife respectable at all. It doesn't take all day to do all the chores and make food/go shopping.
If you're not financially helping out, you're just a trophy wife. (There are some exceptions, but not many.)10 Reply
+1 yI would love to be a househusband :p Not everyone enjoys going out there to grind another paycheck to the same degree. Id feel way more useful supporting a partner that does enjoy this
10 Reply
+1 yNo, it is just an easy way to live with someone else supporting them through life.
22 Reply- +1 y
True.
- 686 opinions shared on Education & Career topic.
+1 yNo. I consider it boring. Go be productive in society. Try to accomplish something beyond house chores and being a maid.
210 Reply- +1 y
It just looks stupid. You can be a house wife just not a fulltime one being in the kitchen and cleaning.
I don't desire a maid for a wife. - +1 y
You can put the kid in a day care or see if grandma would like to take care of it.
I don't believe a person's life must come to a end just because they have a kid. - +1 y
Here is a thought. It’s not your baby. It’s not your problem. It’s not your choice. It’s not your life.
When it is your baby, problem, choice, and life. Then, talk with your spouse. - +1 y
Some parents want to raise their kids on their own. I find it questionable to dump a baby onto strangers or have my parents raise it.
When it's old enough to go to kindergarten it's fine but a baby is too impresionable. It needs very much contact with the parents early on.
You guys sound like you would be fathers who aren't involved with their kid. - +1 y
- +1 y
Anonymous(36-45)+1 yI don't know if I would call it a "career." But I do consider it respectable.
14 Reply
Opinion Owner+1 yI'm really not sure. Maybe "occupation?" I usually associate the word "career" with making money.
Opinion Owner+1 yThat could work, too.
+1 yYes. Absolutely somebody has to teach my children right, public school teaches that we evolve from monkeys. I don’t want the government brainwashing my children , that’s what happened to this lost generation parents let the government turn their children into Godless , ungrateful, immoral , promiscuous bastards
00 Reply
+1 yIt’s not a career at all but in some cases it’s a respectable life choice.
20 Reply
+1 yIs a respectable choice. But that's not a career, at all.
20 ReplyAs a wise person I know once said “full time mothers be doing more work than outside of home profession cuz you working 24/7” think about it if a baby is crying, wants a diaper change at 3 am you can’t just say “nope it’s my day off” lmao
13 Reply- +1 y
Not necessarily lol. If the mother is a housewife and the father works outside the home. She’s the one working at home all day. And her husband when he gets home is not (Cooking, cleaning, etc), but it really just depends on the couple I guess lol. Like for instance my mom is was a housewife and my dad worked in a hospital on night shift and when he’d get home they wasn’t any work he’d be doing at home lol (mainly either sleeping, drinking, or relaxing). Everyone’s different tho.
389 opinions shared on Education & Career topic. It's not a career but it's a perfectly valid life choice. Not one I would ever encourage because of the dependency to your spouse. You really need to have made a really good choice there or you will be drawing the short straw.
00 Reply
+1 yIt's more important than most jobs, and on par with some like doctor, teacher, etc.
20 Reply
+1 yIf that's what the woman actually wants, then more power to her.
10 Reply319 opinions shared on Education & Career topic. Yess definitely I stay home with my kids and it's a full time job. My husband says what I do is about 100% more difficult then his job
20 ReplyYes, there are rarely any breaks, no pay, every day is the same, their life revolves around almost nothing but their families, and most of them rarely get any reward because their work goes unnoticed. It's a respectable sacrifice.
10 Reply
Anonymous(30-35)+1 yI consider being a stay-at-home mother the most important and respectable job of all, and I have more respect for the women who choose to do that than I do any other women.
Children deserve a real mother.10 ReplyAs long it is agreed , there are boundaries. Doesn't mean you are his personal slave. He still has to pull his weight..
21 ReplyI respect those who choose it. Personally when I graduate I want to be a househusband and take care of things on the home front. There is honour is a job like that
10 Reply
+1 yWorking to provide for your family is respectable. Staying home to take care of your home and family is respectable.
10 Reply- 392 opinions shared on Education & Career topic.
+1 yThey're fine. Not respectable, not worthless either. It's just like working in the comfort of your own home.
11 Reply- +1 y
Now what about working dads? They don't get as much respect.
+1 yIts the only respectable career for women who have children in my opinion. Like if you put your kids in daycare i think thats a disgrace.
10 Reply
Anonymous(18-24)+1 yIf the kids are fed the house is clean yes but if your husband gets home from working 9to5 and you want him to make dinner its not respectable.
10 Reply
+1 y"Career" is a bit of a misnomer, but yes I think being fully present for the provision of child-rearing and home-keeping is admirable and important.
00 Reply
+1 yWhen our great (great?) grandmothers were housewives they washed the clothes by hand and prepared food from scratch. It was a genuine full time job. Now? Not so sure.
00 ReplyBeing a Housewife is definitely a job in itself so ya definitely a respectable career.
10 Reply- 352 opinions shared on Education & Career topic.
+1 yYes, of course. Otherwise you're gonna ship off your children to a daycare for someone else to raise?
00 Reply No it's not, it's just being lazy and not wanting to work. Or being a crazy traditionalist
10 ReplyAsker: "I personally don't give a fuck about children, I prefer their mother to go to work so they can be raised by a stranger, but that's not my decision"
Hey you have a brain WHY NOT USE IT? Nice appeal to feminism there. Tell me, if you had a nickname, what letter would it begin with? C I think...07 Reply- +1 y
"I personally don't give a fuck about children" Word for word analysis of what I said. Intelligence = unending. Also, feminists tend to support housewives if you haven't noticed, which I have a problem with. Also, please notice nowhere in my question did I ever mention children. That's a stay-at-home mom, one with which I also have a problem (except of course in the early months of infancy). Also, you really emphasize the "stranger" part, yet you leave out the fact that these are trained professionals who have multiple layers of accountability. Parents can still interact with their child when off from work.
Of course I care about children. But a woman giving up her income for the household? Dude, the household can be taken care of by both parties in their spare time, but full-time staying at home? Ridiculous. A waste, really. To assume I don't care about children, or rather just use a vulgar insult like that, is really telling for the type of person you are.
Use discourse, not your emotions. - +1 y
feminists tend to support housewives? You're out of your fking mind. A housewife is a stay at home mom, read a fking book kid. Woman giving up her income? She spends it all on the kids anyway she may as well just do the work herself like, oh Idunno, A NATURAL LOVING MAMMALIAN MOTHER
- +1 y
look okay you're 19, maybe you have an excuse for being young an ignorant, but the rest of the world does not. You just haven't put the pieces together yet. These ideas you are espousing, you didn't come up with them by yourself. This is just your programming speaking, and you aren't even yet aware of it. Men are not designed to look after young children, and woman have giant feedbags on their chest for a reason. Just open your eyes
- +1 y
Are you a troll dude? You write like a 12 year old who just discovered the internet.
No, feminists consistently support housewives and stay-at-home moms. Actually, they emphasize the importance that a woman should be able to pursue whatever path she desires, including a stay-at-home mom. Also, "kid" comment really appreciated. Currently in college, not sure about you.
She WOULD be spending her money along with the father's on a house within a better school district and better property value. The family could afford to pay for college, could take nice vacations. And kids need to go to school eventually, you know.
And once again, your argument revolves around kids. I just said housewives, nothing about mothers. - +1 y
man I just can't wrap my head around you arguing for feminism is somehow correlated with stay at home motherhood. Do you know any history besides the shit they shove down your throat in college? You think the rise of feminism and the rise of women choosing to enter the workforce instead of stay home is some fking coincidence? Look, I get it, you're all proud of your slightly better than average linguistic ability, clap clap, pat on the back, now listen up. When it comes to debate, when it comes to truth, it doesn't matter how you say it, it matters what you say.
But yeah tl ;dr you're a kid, you don't know what the real world is, you've gone from one institution to another and you likely won't be shat out of that trainwreck for another few years at least. You just don't know what you don't know and I can't fault ya for that, but you should learn to accept truth no matter where it comes from.
+1 yIt is not a career so really neither. A career is where you make money and housewives make zero money
00 ReplySo I shouldn't respect someone because of a career choice? Its non criminal hard work so I do respect anyone who does it as much as any other "career"
00 ReplyIt takes a lot of work and i really mean it
Girls that wanna be housewifes most of their life thats even harder then some working people do00 Reply- 498 opinions shared on Education & Career topic.
+1 yOnly a feminist would see it as a bad career choice..
00 Reply Any career feminazis disapprove of, I will always encourage for REAL women
02 Reply- +1 y
@StephenCF i would love to be a housewife😍😊
Anonymous(36-45)+1 yIt’s definitely not a respectable career. But it is respectable in its own way.
00 Reply
+1 yDoes she get paid for being a housewife? No? Then its not a career but there is nothing wrong with it
10 ReplyI wouldn't call that a career, but it is respectable, if that's a choice you made.
00 Reply307 opinions shared on Education & Career topic. It is not for me. I do not care what others do.
20 ReplyIt's not even a career, respectable or not.
21 Reply
+1 yTry to play his or her game. Follow his or her standards!
00 Reply
Anonymous(36-45)+1 yIt's not a career, if you're not making money for it
11 Reply- +1 y
Love it when people get hung up on the diction
Wtf hows that a career?
02 Reply
+1 yNo because it's not a career.
111 Reply- +1 y
You worded the question. How were we supposed to know you didn't actually mean career? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- +1 y
You could have said 'life choice'.
- +1 y
By that logic you can say breathing is also career. I mean, we're all pretty occuupied with it aren't we?
I don't find it respectable either way. People handle both parenthood, housework and a job with pretty good results, so why would I go out of my way to admire someone who objwctively has it pretty easy?
This doesn't mean housewives/househusbands shouldn't be respected as people, far from it. But that specific life choice is not what makes them praise worthy. - +1 y
Housework is not what it was 200 years ago. It's a lot easier.
When it comes to kids, of course it's good to have a parent at home. But later on, it's actually good for the kids to be with other kids and socialize so kindergarden really isn't a tragedy. Also, as the kids get older, they will make less mess (if raised properly) and do some housework themself. So at that point wife is pretty unoccupied. - +1 y
And also, I have a feeling having a housewife at home can make kids pretty lazy and spoiled.
You can either have a mother with too much time on her hands, because the kids do housework too (plus school time takes up a lot of the day), or you get a busy mom who does literally everything for the kids except wiping their ass (pardon my language), making them spoiled. - +1 y
when it comes to kids as babies*
It's hard work and I 100% respect it
00 Reply- Show More (8)
Learn more
We're glad to see you liked this post.
You can also add your opinion below!
Holidays
Girl's Behavior
Guy's Behavior
Flirting
Dating
Relationships
Fashion & Beauty
Health & Fitness
Marriage & Weddings
Shopping & Gifts
Technology & Internet
Break Up & Divorce
Education & Career
Entertainment & Arts
Family & Friends
Food & Beverage
Hobbies & Leisure
Other
Religion & Spirituality
Society & Politics
Sports
Travel
Trending & News
Most Helpful Opinions