The Wife Drought

Journalist and TV personality Annabel Crabb is interested in the domestic lives of the career-driven. Her television show, Kitchen Cabinet, takes us into the kitchens of some of our most powerful politicians, and The Wife Drought delves deep into the domestic sphere of ordinary Australians. Crabb argues that having a wife at home to raise children and take care of the housework is as crucial to a woman’s career as it is to a man’s. Yet more often than not, women don’t have the luxury of a wife and as such they are unable to put in the same hours afforded to men to advance their careers.

While this in itself is not a new argument, Crabb doesn’t want to focus on the usual barriers for women entering the workforce but rather the barriers men face on leaving it to stay at home. Popular thinking on the subject, such as the bestseller Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, tends to focus on why women aren’t encouraged to be more career driven. Crabb’s point is that we are looking at things the wrong way around; instead, she questions why men aren’t encouraged to stay at home. It’s an interesting way of looking at the problem and reveals the ugly truth that domestic duties just aren’t valued (either economically or socially) in the same way as paid employment.

Crabb is a great writer and she successfully manages to illustrate her arguments with statistical research that, rather than making for dry reading, is presented with characteristic humour and intelligence. This book makes an important contribution to the debate about women in the workforce, particularly as it doesn’t rehash the same old arguments but approaches the topic from a refreshing and important angle.

Kara Nicholson