Servicing the Middle Classes: Class, Gender and Waged Domestic Labour in Contemporary Britain

Domestic service is being reconstituted by the middle classes. Demand for domestic labour has escalated rapidly in Britain in recent years. For some, hiring domestic help is nothing new, but for the majority of British households, it is an historical fact beyond the range of immediate experience. Servicing the Middle Classes investigates the resurgence in demand for waged domestic labour in Britain during the 1980s and early 1990s and the consequent growth of a new servant' class. Examining the conditions and trends which have cojoined to produce and reproduce this labour force, the book draws extensively on two case studies to explore the day-to-day practices, composition, geography of demand, and social relations of the two major forms of waged domestic labour in contemporary Britain - nannies and cleaners. The authors conclude by considering the effects of the ideologies of motherhood, false kinship relations, and caring on the ways in which paid domestic workers are employed, and examine the broader theoretical implications of the study for debates on class and gender and its implications for feminist politics.