“What did you do all day while I was working?” It’s a question that stay-at-home parents are regularly asked because the work they do goes unrecognized. Historically, it’s cis-gendered men in heterosexual relationships asking that question of their female partners but not exclusively. People ask that question because the work of the person who stays at home is invisible. The phrase “invisible work” was coined by sociologist Arlene Kaplan Daniels in 1987. She argued what we consider “work” when we think of the term takes place in the public sphere and has financial recompense. That means a whole swathe of work goes unrecognized.
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