A comparison of middle and lower middle class housewives

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Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Sociology, Turkey

Approval Date: 2012

Thesis Language: English

Student: Neşe Ünal

Supervisor: FATMA UMUT BEŞPINAR AKGÜNER

Abstract:

This study is about daily experiences of housewives. It aims to reveal to what extend middle and lower middle class women are different as well as similar to each other. This class comparative analysis is based on their attitudes and feelings about being a housewife, employment, housework, child care, daily routine, housekeeping, and division of labour at home. The study also discusses the factors affecting women’s attitudes towards housework such as technology and use of paid domestic service. In order to shed light upon the experiences of housewives, qualitative method is used by in-depth interviews with 14 middle class and 14 lower middle class housewives living in Ankara. In this study class is determined by taking into consideration the place of residence, monthly income and occupation of the husband.