These days more and more individuals decide to work at home or as a volunteer. However, these types of jobs are not regarded as proper occupation by a majority of people. In my opinion, housework done by full time mothers or effort of volunteers sharing their time and skills is as significant as work of regular employees. Why?

To begin with, paycheck is not the only and most reliable indicator of a value of one’s work. Taking care of day-to-day things at home such as cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking or raising children may be more important than fulfilling needs of your clients at work.

Moreover, voluntary work often requires the same set of skills and specific abilities that are also used in a typical job. At some point it may even turn out to be more challenging and immensely rewarding – especially when taking into account gained experience and new contacts.

On the other hand, normal work offers fixed salary and regular working hours. Furthermore, it is impossible to take a day off or holiday from household duties or get a promotion when there is no one who can give it to you.

To sum up, I believe that comparing ordinary job to housework or voluntary work is like comparing apples to oranges. They are completely disparate but both belong to one category and both shall be perceived as proper jobs with their own characteristics.