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That is mostly a myth. They may have worked less than people at the height of the industrial revolution, but even a laborer who was paid a salary had to spend at least several hours per day on average on “not work” things like food preparation, home maintenance, feeding livestock, gathering firewood, repairing and cleaning clothing. Many tasks that are trivial today were highly arduous.

Then to top it all off it was fairly common for the local lord to force them to do extra labor without pay, like maintaining roads or training in a militia.

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NateNate60@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Remember that one of the biggest contributions to women’s liberation was the invention of the washing machine.

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Infernal_pizza@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Don’t forget all the time spent dying from now preventable diseases!

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ThunderQueen@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I currently and never have made enough money to pay professionals to do those things. A LOT of my time is spent preparing food and repairing/cleaning my clothes and dwelling.

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- sus@programming.dev ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  If you hand wash your clothes and process all your food from scratch you’re probably a pretty big exception to modern lifestyles
  
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  - ThunderQueen@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    You didnt say processing. You said preparing. There have been bakers and butchers for centuries. Im a laborer, so i trade my wage for others goods like people have forever. But yes, i tend to wash my clothes by hand in my sink unless i can afford the laindromat that month
    
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