Household Work Strategies and Forms of Labour: Conceptual and Empirical Issues

Abstract

This paper explores some theoretical and empirical issues concerning the different forms of work that people engage in in contemporary capitalist societies. The theoretical issues derive from four sources: Harding & Jenkins' argument that distinctions between the formal and the informal economy are unsustainable; Hilary Silver's critique of Gershuny's self-service economy thesis; debates about an adequate definition of `work'; and the debate about the usefulness of the concept of household work strategy. The empirical aspect of the paper emanates from a replication of aspects of Pahl and Wallace's study of the Isle of Sheppey among households in the North West of England.