Originally published in 1988, this argument is still painfully relevant today. More than three decades on, women and girls – particularly those who are living in poverty and from marginalized groups – are putting in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid work every day to keep households, communities and businesses running.
In January 1973 a young criminal named Paul Giles was ordered by a UK magistrate to spring-clean an old-age pensioner’s house as a punishment for his offence. On hearing this, women around the world might be forgiven for wondering just what heinous crimes they must have committed to justify their life sentences of cleaning.
