Cohousing-L Mailing List: Work vs Pay

[Michael Donovan (editor]

I find the discussion concerning minimum work requirements and the
contributions (financial or otherwise) of those who work less to be
interesting. While our group is not yet living in cohousing, the issue of
work relates to all of us. We are considering hiring someone to do some of
the work we need to do to develop a site and yet don't have time to do it.
We are fortunate that most of our group is involved in working towards
cohousing, but recognize that as our group expands, we will attract others
that may have less commitment to getting things done.

There are two things I have noticed about groups I have been involved with
(cohousing and otherwise) concerning work, available time, and affluence. I
would be interested in hearing from others whether they have noticed this as
well, and whether it affected their policies on work requirements.

1. Many of those that work the hardest do NOT necessarily have more time or
flexibility than others but are more committed to the goals.

2. Many of those that seemingly have less time to commit to the process are
more affluent, perhaps because of their dedication to their job or career.

Neither of these obviously are universal truths, however do point out a real
inequity that can lead to others scaling back their own involvement. While I
do not wish to create a financial basis for involvement in cohousing (or at
our point, a time criteria either) I don't see any reason why a group could
not acknowledge that those who work for the community subsidize those who
don't financially. The work that they do would otherwise have to be hired
and would inevitably raise the costs for all. Why not recognize that and
share the REAL cost equitably? At least for the hard costs of operating the
cohousing as well as essential soft costs (landscaping, maintenance, clean
up, upkeep, improvements).

Michael Donovan
Village in the City
St. Louis MO