Kitchen Labor Equity | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Dan Suchman (71756.2661compuserve.com) | |
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 01:10 CST |
Here at Winslow, we are currently examining the fairness of our meals system. Meals are served at the Common House 5 nights per week to an average of about 40 people, including children and occasional guests. Residents can participate in as few or as many Common House meals as they desire. Only adults who participate in the meals system are sheduled to work in the kitchen. Adult participants are scheduled to work once per six meals eaten by the adult participant (meals eaten by the participant's children, regardless of age, and/or guests are not counted), based on estimates that each participant submits at the beginning of each 6-week meals cycle. Two cooks and two cleaners are scheduled for most meals. Three cooks and three cleaner are scheduled for Sunday night meals, which tend to be most heavily attended. The current labor pool consists of approximately 40 adults. We recently created a Task Force on Distribution of Kitchen Labor and Cost to examine some perceived inequities of this system and the way that it is being used (or not) by some participants. One of my criticisms of the system is that it causes adult participants without children to subsidize (with their labor) adults participants who have children. At Winslow, children (whether 3 years old or 17 years old), are not required to work in the meals system. Nor are their parents scheduled to work any more frequently on account of the additional meals eaten by their children. There are currently approximately 20 to 25 children and teens participating in the meals system. In a recent group discussion of the issue, most parents acknowledged the inequity, even if they could not agree on what to do about it. A smaller group of parents asserted adamantly that no inequity existed and that even if an inequity did exist it should be viewed as a cost of community (how convenient for those with children). Meanwhile, 5 of the community's 7 single and childless households have almost completely stopped participating in the meals system (for various reasons, among them the perceived labor inequity). Virtually all families with children eat in the Common House at least once per week. There certainly seems to be a correlation. At the very least, it appears that there is *something* about the meals system that is not working well for single and childless households. I noticed in the messages posted by residents of other cohousing communities a variety of systems and sentiments surrounding their respective meals systems. I was wondering what people in other groups might think of the way that Winslow handles this issue, and whether you folks might have any comments or suggestions to offer. Dan Suchman Winslow Cohousing Group Bainbridge Island, WA
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Kitchen Labor Equity Dan Suchman, March 5 1995
- Re: Kitchen Labor Equity Stuart Staniford-Chen, March 6 1995
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