Wages for housework: the daring 1970s campaign that challenged women's roles
Emily Callaci discusses a bold – and controversial – feminist movement that campaigned for women to be paid for household labour in the 1970s
In the 1970s, a global group of feminist activists banded together with one demand: 'wages for housework'. Emily Callaci explores this campaign in her Cundill Prize-nominated book Wages for Housework and, in this episode, she speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about why the idea of women being compensated for unpaid household labour caused such a stir at the time – and continues to resonate today.
To find out more about the Cundill History Prize, go to www.cundillprize.com.
Emily Callaci is the author of Wages for Housework: The Story of a Movement, an Idea, a Promise (Allen Lane, 2025).
Authors
Ellie Cawthorne is HistoryExtra’s podcast editor. She also contributes to BBC History Magazine, runs the podcast newsletter and hosts several live and virtual BBC History Magazine events.