Name:	Labor Economics Service Project
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Labor Economics
Service Learning Project

Background:  Students in Labor Economics will be studying the transformation of labor processes within the household over time by reading Ruth Schwartz Cowan’s More Work for Mother.  The book suggests that in the west over the last 200 years women’s work has been differentiated from men’s by being incompletely industrialized, or by being industrialized in a somewhat different manner.  How and why this occurred is a puzzle.  Although much work has been done describing the transformation of work processes of paid employees, little has been done on housework.

Objective:  Students will begin to understand the historical path that led from one particular pattern of housework to another.  They will examine the evolving tools of housework and the work processes that they imply as well as the social and economic institutions that have affected the character and availability of these tools.

Method:  Students will spend approximately 15 hours with elders developing relationships and learning about their personal history as it relates to in-class learning about the history of housework.  These conversations will occur during the period from January 15 – February 16.  Students will reflect on their conversations during class, and produce a final paper reflecting on how the personal experiences they heard fit into Schwartz’s theories.

Potential Areas of Exploration:  I expect these to be developed by the class, but the following will give some ideas of the types of things students may wish to inquire about.

	Division of Labor:  What was the division of labor in the household where you grew up?  That is, what were considered “women’s jobs” and “men’s jobs”.  Did your household employ servants?  What kind of work was done by the help?  

	Technology:  How was laundry done when you were growing up?  How did that process change over your lifetime (acquisition of newer and better machine, move from using commercial laundry to home, etc.) .  How did this change the amount of time you spent on this chore?  This type of question can be pursued for other types of technology, cooking, vacuum, etc. 

	Paid Labor:  Did you work outside the home?  Were there expectations in your household about the place of women in the paid labor force?  How did expectations change with marriage and motherhood?