Household routines and domestic power

Abstract

Women without husbands live in households whose structures and routines differ from those of women who are conventionally married. Their family relationships, and those of their children, more obviously cross-cut household boundaries. The organisation of ‘home’ and the meanings that attach to it are also different. The absence of a husband releases women from the ties of a husband-centred schedule, enhancing their powers of domestic control but involving them in greater domestic responsibility. It also transforms the fine detail of domestic routine in which family life is reproduced. The experiences of women in this area vary with the context and dynamics of husband absence and their examination adds to our wider understanding of family relationships.