In the 18th century, Adam Smith, the Scottish political economist, set out the principles of free markets and free trade in his book The Wealth of Nations. But he was only able to study and write because he was supported by unpaid labour — in other words, his mother’s housework.
That is the point made by Reshma Saujani, founder of US non-profit organisation Girls Who Code, in her new book Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think).
Who cooked Adam Smith’s dinner — coincidentally the title of a book by writer Katrine Mar?al — speaks volumes, she says, about the unacknowledged (and free) contribution of women’s unpaid caring, housework and emotional labour. It has kept economies going but created a crisis in mothers’ health and jobs in the pandemic.