Wages for Housework, Wages for Housewives

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 223 Should housewives be paid by the state to be housewives? In some sense, it's an issue that's in present-day news, but this isn't the first time a political movement has broached the question. Back in the 1970s, it became a major issue among Marxist-feminists, believe it or not. The Marxist-feminists of the age believed that if the state paid wages for housework, as the movement came to be known, then women would realize the laborious nature and labor-relations relevant to their station within capitalism and thus awaken to resist it. In fact, Silvia Federici launched this movement into prominence with a 1975 pamphlet called "Wages Against Housework" (pdf: https://monoskop.org/images/2/23/Federici_Silvia_Wages_Against_Housework_1975.pdf ) and argues that paying women for housework is the first step in their class consciousness and refusal, thus a necessary piece of the revolutionary movement. In this curious episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay takes you through Federici's pamphlet and brings eye-opening clarity to how Marxist-feminists (and all Wokes) think. Join him to hear it for yourself. Join us for the Preserving Liberty Conference at Sea!: https://ndcruise.com Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames © 2026 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Wages