Abstract
A key theme of this volume concerns the problems of conventional definitions of work that limit the parameters of occupational health research and practice. This theme is addressed in the following chapter that focuses on the labour carried out within households. This is rarely seen as ‘real’ work and has received very little attention from those concerned with occupational health and safety. It is also the most ‘gendered’ form of labour, since domestic tasks are identified as ‘female’ across the vast majority of societies. The nature of this work has certain similarities wherever it is being performed but it is also shaped in profound ways by cultural, economic and social circumstances. This chapter offers a research agenda for enhancing our understanding of the impact of domestic work in a range of social settings on those (predominantly) women who carry it out. It also provides some preliminary thoughts on the implications of research findings for broadening the scope of occupational health and safety policy.
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© 1999 Lesley Doyal
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Doyal, L. (1999). Women and Domestic Labour: Setting a Research Agenda. In: Daykin, N., Doyal, L. (eds) Health and Work. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27625-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27625-7_2
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