Homework and Women's Rights: The Case of the Vermont Knitters, 1980-1985

“The TV work is not so bad”: The Experience of a Group of Homeworkers

“…Only a minority of our sample were women with childcare responsibilities. Their reasons for engaging in the homework accorded with the findings of Felstead and Jewson (1996), Pennington and Westover (1989), Dawson and Turner (1989) and Boris (1987). These women apparently did not suffer the difficulties of co-ordinating homework and childcare, such as having insufficient time to spend with the children, identified by Christensen (1988) and Felstead and Jewson (1996).…”

“…As Pennington and Westover (1989) argue, with homework women can combine domestic work with paid work because of the flexibility and convenience it provides in relation to work schedules. Boris ( 1987) and Dawson and Turner ( 1989) suggest that apart from reasons relating to childcare and domestic responsibilities, women choose homework because they associate it with autonomy, self-sufficiency, independence and achievement (Boris, 1987;Dawson and Turner, 1989). Other reasons may include the need to supplement the family income, gradually ease out of the workforce upon retirement, combine paid work with study or leisure interests, maintain skills or facilitate a return to the workforce (Romeyn, 1992).…”

“…While there have been a number of studies which point to positive aspects of homeworking, including those by Boris (1987) and Dawson and Turner (1989) most studies have tended to emphasise the negative aspects of such working arrangements. As Gerson (1993) argues, however, while many homeworkers have been terribly abused, many have not shared these experiences.…”

“…The approach in our study differed significantly from that of previous studies (Allen and Wolkowitz, 1987;Dawson and Turner, 1989;Boris, 1987). Their samples of homeworkers were drawn from a variety of employers in a specific geographic region.…”

“…Opponents point to the exploitation which often characterises this form of employment in relation to wages and working conditions, work intensity, occupational health and safety, and the inclusion of child labour. In the United States, industrial homeworking has been cast as an equity issue -the right to work being equated with women's rights to support families "in the privacy oftheir own homes" (Boris, 1987). Despite there being a substantial number of workers engaged in it, however, homeworking remains largely invisible and there has been little empirical research on workers' experiences with this form of employment in particular industry and occupational settings.…”