Use of Time by Oregon Farm Homemakers

1929

National Agricultural Library

Oregon States Agricultural College. Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin Number 256

Data were obtained from 288 farm homemakers, 71 country non-farm homemakers, and 154 non-country non-farm homemakers, a total of 513 records.

The average work period of the farm homemaker was 63.7 hours per week, divided as follows: homemaking, 81 percent; farm work, 18 per- cent; other work, 1 percent. For 9 percent of the homemakers the work period was less than 50 hours; for 14 percent it was 75 hours or more. The average work day was 9.7 hours on week days and 5.5 hours on Sundays.

The 51.6 hours per week devoted to homemaking activities were distributed as follows: food activities, 47 percent; house, 18 percent; clothing and textiles, 22 percent; care of members of household, 7 percent; management, 3 percent; all other, 2 percent. Seventy-two percent of the homemaking time went to the routine activities of the household — meals, cleaning, fires, laundry, and mending.

Farm homemakers worked longer than non-farm homemakers, mainly because of their farm work in addition to their homemaking. Ninety-seven percent of them did some farm work, the average amount being 11.3 hours a week. The three farm enterprises to which the most time was devoted were dairying, poultry, and fruits and vegetables.