Duktig mamma vilar aldrig : Om hemarbetets effektivisering och husmodersidealet inom Sveriges Husmödrars Riksförbund 1926 till 1968

Sammanfattning: For the largest part of the 20th century a majority of all married women in Sweden worked as unpaid houseworkers. Although time-consuming and filled with much drudgery, little attention was brought to their work. The aim of this study is to examine what strategies a key actor, the National Association of Swedish Housewives Societies (NASHS), worked according to in order to increase the efficiency and status of unpaid housework, and how the strategies of the association were affected by their idea of the houseworker – the housewife. The study looks closer at the ideological foundations and goals of the NASHS, what activities they conducted at the local level in order to achieve their goals and how NASHS’s idea of the housewife and the industrialization of housework changed over time. The study is limited to the period 1926 to 1968.Housework was industrialized during the 20th century through household technology. The technology simplified housework and eliminated drudgery. However, it did not reduce married women’s housework hours. The study shows how NASHS actively tried to increase efficiency by promoting rationality and new technology in articles and through activities at the local level. Although, one of the greatest conclusions of the study is that NASHS on its own contributed to the conservation of housework hours. The association constructed an ideal that forced housewives to work more and do better in order to give their children a good upbringing and a satisfying childhood. Time saved by technology was supposed to be spent on other chores, such as raising the standard of living and becoming a better mother. The result thus makes an important contribution to the research of the industrialization of housework by relating a key actor to the development.