I agree with Barbara Ehrenreich when she says that, "Housework was not only a relationship between a woman and a dust bunny or an unmade bed; but also defined as a relationship between human beings, typically husbands and wives" (60). I think that in the past husbands have typically worked outside of the home bringing home paychecks, and women had the responsibility of taking care of the children and housework. More recently, women have been taking up jobs in addition to their husbands, in some cases instead of their husbands, and this has caused a shift in responsibilities. When both a husband and wife work outside of the home, sometimes it's hard to divide up the work at home, and since traditionally the role has been that of the woman, sometimes she ends up taking control of that as well. This unbalanced share of the work due to a new situation has caused rifts in many relationships. I understand what the owner of Merry Maids meant when she said, "We even save marriages." Having a housekeeper has, in my opinion, always been very understandable.

However, "The sudden emergence of a servant class" seems a bit extreme, is there really a society where there isn't one? 

I'd also like to address the claim that "upper-middle-class children... are bound to grow up as domestically incompetent" (69), by saying that it's possible to have maids and still know how to clean up after yourself. The theory is there, but in practice, I'm sorry; there isn't much technique to cleaning. People can pick it up pretty easily when they have to. 

Also,what was interesting was the bit about parenting: "instructing children in necessary chores; today it's more likely to center on one-sided conversations beginning with 'So how was school today?'...relationships with children are often strained" (70). Personally, I have to say that I'm glad my mom has enough time to sit down with me and talk instead of showing me how to do chores. I don't think this is bad parenting. Ehrenreich says that low-quality time doing chores can make a child feel more comfortable about sharing with their parents...I think there's a larger underlying problem if  child needs to have an excuse to feel comfortable with their parents...that doesn't sound like a housekeeper's fault. 

On a side note, I was very disturbed by the revelation that some housekeepers' responsibility is to make things only appear clean...