Women and the working-class families: the housewife

Abstract

The housewife in a working-class family, which is the historical product of the industrial revolution, is often regarded as a copy of the norms or the division of labour models, which are foreign to that environment. This article is supported by results obtained through research, carried out on the working-class environment in Barreiro and tries to address and set out the reality of Barreiro's working-class housewife of the 1920's and of today. By comparing the social profile of the housewife in the families, it shows that, staying at home, is foremost the result of a social disadvantage (from the point of view of origin and social status).