Category: Philosophy

This article seeks to answer the questions what is wrong with having a nanny? What is wrong with domestic work? and what are the perspectives on nanny work? The article focuses on house work philosophy, domestic work philosophy, and perspectives on domestic work. As such the article seeks to discuss the views on domestic or nanny work from different perspectives – feminism, marxism, and others. 

What is Wrong With Having a Nanny?

There are countless chores that fall within the domain of housework; washing dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, cooking, food shopping, and caring for children and countless others (Peacock, 2012). Housework is commonly assumed to be women’s work (Townsend, 2016). Every year, an average housewife spends between one and four thousand hours performing housework (Davis, 1981; Peacock, 2012). This amount of time does not include constant and unquantifiable attention that mothers have to give dedicate to their children. In spite of the huge amount of time and effort spent in it, housework is rarely appreciated (Davis 1981). In this regard, Ehrenreich and English (1975) note that housework is never noticed until it is not done. For example, people do not notice the scrubbed and polished floor but will quickly notice the unmade bed (Ehrenreich and English, 1975). From a philosophical perspective, this paper attempts to answer the question, what, if anything, is wrong with having a nanny – nanny philosophy | philosophy?

Nannies are charged with the responsibility of taking care of children in their home; work that squarely falls under the umbrella of housework. As noted by Ghaeus (2013), among other duties, nannies meet children’s security, affection, social and other needs and guide them in different situations. For many people, taking care of children at home is mindless work; work that they would rather leave to others if money allows (Townsend, 2016). Unlike the carpenter, electrician, or plumber who earn their respect because of the intelligent skill they apply in their labour, housework seems to demand no particular skill. There continues to be raging debate among philosophers, feminists, economists and other experts regarding housework, its importance and whether it should be done in the first place. Drawing on different perspectives, this paper seeks to answer the question, what, if anything, is wrong with having a nanny?  The paper also discusses the  nature of what nannies do (domestic work), and different perspectives on domestic/nanny work (including Marxist and feminist perspectives)  -nanny philosophy.  Read more …