Home economics taught in school

Gender equality starts at homeAnd in Italy, inequality is truly impressive: 80 percent of the Houseworks are at the expense of women, while men only take care of it 20 percent of the time. This disparity has been exacerbated by the pandemic, when families have been forced to stay home, and women have seen their domestic workload increase by fifteen hours a week.
To get out of the dead end of an imbalance that means not being able to achieve true and concrete gender equality, we must take into consideration the students' educational pathAnd propose housework courses for boys, as well as girls, starting in elementary school, as is done in countries that are highly advanced in this area, like Finland, but also in Mediterranean nations, which have a culture of work-related weights between men and women very similar to ours, like Spain.

Finland never ceases to amaze when it comes to education. It continually updates its curricula, while maintaining a very rigorous basic approach: school prepares not only for life, work, and further studies, but also for citizenship and interpersonal relationships—at home, with friends, and in the outside world. Hence, for example, the importance of home economics courses, starting in the early years of middle school.

Teaching Home Economics

In a BBC documentary, we discover that an "interdisciplinary method" of teaching is gaining ground in Finnish schools. This doesn't mean abandoning basic knowledge of grammar, history, geography, and science, but rather connecting them (and making them relevant) to the contemporary world . An example? The history of Pompeii and Vesuvius serves to tell the story of life in ancient Rome, which is then compared to that of modern Finland. This also applies to a lifestyle that prioritizes, both for health and human relationships, the practice of baths in the past and saunas today. The same goes for home economics: old, healthy habits of household chores are being reintroduced in a modern way, broadening the scope of responsibilities from women to men, who cannot delegate everything in the home to women.

Cooking classes and home improvement projects

"At home, I do the laundry , I iron, I make the beds—something I'm not always good at—I shovel the snow, and I take out the trash. In short, I take care of the housework..." These words of Martin Schultz , a highly influential politician in Germany, caused quite a stir during an election campaign against Angela Merkel. This is despite the fact that in Northern European countries, the burden of housework is much more balanced between men and women than in Italy.

Schultz, like many Northern European political leaders (remember Merkel taking a regular hydrofoil to Ischia on vacation?), perfectly understood the public's desire for normalcy and how new lifestyles, starting with domestic economics, are integral to a program of good governance . If for no other reason: the grave and unjust imbalance to the detriment of women is closely linked to the fact that women, mothers, often busy with work and managing two families, are always burdened with almost all of the household chores. Even the simplest ones: ironing, washing, putting the trash away. The waste of women's work, never truly valued, also arises from this funnel, and a politician has a duty to acknowledge it and provide some answers, starting with her own example.

However, if we really want to think about rebalancing the burden of housework, currently entirely on women's shoulders, we should start thinking about how to teach it already in compulsory school, to middle school children, as they do in Finland.

What is taught during these courses? All the tasks typically assigned to housewives, who cover nearly 90 percent of the household chores. The children learn to cook, iron , hand-wash delicates, knit, mend a sock, and build a sled for fun in the snow . But during the lessons, the teachers also teach them not to waste food, water, or money with compulsive shopping ; to be responsible with their money, and even to recognize food intolerances. The most surprising thing is that these are hours of lessons (three or four a week) that the students enjoy so much, to the point of considering them their favorites.

Home Economics Course Benefits

Home economics at school brings many benefits to the new Finnish generations. First of all, school teaches gender equality in a very concrete way , and when a couple becomes a couple, no boy will be able to say, "I don't know how to do that," when refusing to iron a shirt or cook. Furthermore, the housework curriculum inspires a sense of autonomy: these children will be able to manage on their own, at home, as soon as they graduate from compulsory school . And they won't always need mom and dad to get by: a life lesson that matters a lot in difficult times like these.

Home Economics in Spain

Read also:

• Maternity bonus starting January 1st: a new scam for women. It's law, but no one has gotten it.
• Domestic work, how to pay it. Men should foot the bill at home.
• Italy is not a country for mothers. 25% lose or quit their jobs after pregnancy.