What did Silver (1987) argue about the commercialisation of housework?

• A. It reduces time spent on housework and enables more equal sharing.
• B. It increases time spent on housework.
• C. It has no effect on the time spent on housework.
• D. It only benefits men.

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how paying others to do domestic tasks changes how much time people spend on housework and who does it. Silver argues that when household chores can be outsourced or paid for, the actual hours spent on housework tend to fall for the person who did most of it before (often women). With that time burden reduced, couples have more opportunity to renegotiate who does what, making more equal sharing of domestic tasks possible. So the best answer reflects both the reduction in time spent on housework and the potential for more equal sharing. It doesn’t fit the view that it would increase time, that it has no effect, or that it only benefits men.