A Study on The Meaning Of Wage Labor In The Light Of Home Life

가정생활의 관점에서 본 임금노동의 의미

Everyone lives in a home. We pursue happiness and the meaning of life through home life or family life. Home life, therefore, has an important meaning in the whole life, But home life can be sustained only through housework and wage labor. All human activities can be divided into two kinds of activities. The one has intrinsic value, the other has extrinsic value. Housework belongs to the activity with intrinsic value, but wage labor belongs to the activity with extrinsic value. In view of home life, housework has primary meaning, and wage labor has subsidiary meaning. In other words, wage labor is only means of home life. We mush not forget that important fact. But we cannot help thinking that nowadays people consider wage labor itself as an aim of life. It is said that we are achieving self-actualization through wage labor, but it is not ture. To tell the truth, most of us are experiencing self-alienation in job. We must recover the legitimate relation between housework and wage labor. Wage labor is means of home life, therefore it is on the extension line of housework. If we achieve happiness through home life, we must recognize that wage labor is only means of home life, not an end in itself.