Sure, but first it needs to be pointed out that an individual's class does not depend in any way on whether an that person creates value. For example, I am a dole bludger. I try to avoid creating any value. But I'm still working class.
But anyhow, housework is a socially necessary part of the infrastructure that supports wage workers. Without it, those who sell their labour wouldn't be able to survive. Housework is essential to capital, in the sense that without it all employers would be required to provide full board and accommodation to their labour force. Some do of course, I once worked at the BHP steel mill in Whyalla, boarding at the company's single men's quarters. As well as a bed, the company provided all meals, even a cut lunch.
There was a fee for all this of course, but I don't imagine it would have covered cost. It was worth their while to subsidise it though, since it permitted BHP to continually import fresh migrant workers from all over the world, thus undermining wages and conditions. I had four good mates there, one was from Franco's Spain (the Basque country), two were from Peru, and the fourth was a white South African. They seemed to prefer importing labour from depressed areas (including Tasmania.)
I'm a little surprised that you would not understand how housework creates value. It really is essentially the same sort of work done in restaurants, hotels, etc by cooks, waiters, laundry workers, maids, cleaners and so forth. Do you doubt that it creates value to prepare raw food for eating, to clean laundry rather than throw away soiled clothes, etc?
It seems obvious that clean clothes are more valuable than soiled ones, that a meal ready to eat has more value than a raw cut of meat, etc. Or am I missing your point here?
> That's what I'm interested in here. Your definition of working class is something we've been through already. Class composition is what I'm on about right now - this interests me much more than definitions, and this is what my question is about.
I don't see how you can distinguish between class definitions and class composition. You can't just skip over the question of class definition as being 'too hard'.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas