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domestic labor

Definition of Domestic Labor

(noun) The numerous tasks associated with maintaining a household.

Examples of Domestic Labor

  • Bathing children.
  • Changing diapers (also called nappies).
  • Cleaning the bathroom.
  • Preparing meals.
  • Shopping for groceries.
  • Taking out the trash.

Domestic Labor Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: do·mes·tic la·bor

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /duh-mEs-tik lAY-buhr/
  • British English – /duh-mE-stik lAY-buh/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /dəˈmɛstɪk ˈleɪbər/
  • British English – /dəʊˈmɛstɪk ˈleɪbə/

Usage Notes

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan Turner. 2006. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 5th ed. London: Penguin.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Jary, David, and Julia Jary. 2000. Collins Dictionary of Sociology. 3rd ed. Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.

Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.

Thorpe, Christopher, Chris Yuill, Mitchell Hobbs, Sarah Tomley, and Marcus Weeks. 2015. The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained. London: Dorling Kindersley.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Domestic Labor

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “domestic labor.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/domestic-labor/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

domestic labor. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/domestic-labor/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “domestic labor.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/domestic-labor/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“domestic labor.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/domestic-labor/>.