| As working women continue to receive
better and better wages, housewives still work at home without receiving
paychecks. Should a woman who works at home, doing the housework and caring for
children, be paid for her services? In a 1986 study at Cornell University, it
was found that the value of the services of a housewife averaged $11,600 is what
the husband would have to pay if he hired others to take over his wife's
household work. The researchers concluded that it would be fair for husbands to
pay wives according to government guidelines (方针) for least amounts of
wages. Another plan for rewarding women who work at home has been suggested by Dr. Johnson, a former Secretary of Health and Human Services. He says that full-time housewives should be allowed to pay social security taxes (社会保障金), with their employers (that is, their husbands) offering part of the payment. He feels that the present system is unfair. He said, "If you work in a store you can qualify for Social Security, but if you stay at home and raise a family, you can't qualify for it." |