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.
Find out more about the Cundill History Prize
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 head of content (audio) at HistoryExtra