displaced homemaker: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

The term was coined in a socio-historical context where homemakers were overwhelmingly women, and it still predominantly applies to women. However, in principle, it can apply to any person who fulfills the core definition, regardless of gender.

Typically not. The term strongly implies a person who has spent many years (often decades) outside the formal workforce and is now of an age where re-entry is particularly difficult. A young parent with recent work experience would not usually fit the term.

A 'homemaker' simply describes someone who manages a household. A 'displaced homemaker' is a specific subcategory: a homemaker who has lost their source of financial support and, due to their prolonged absence from paid work, faces severe economic hardship.

No. It is a specialised term used in legal, policy, academic, and social service contexts. The average person is unlikely to use or encounter it in daily conversation.

An individual (historically and predominantly a woman) who has been a homemaker for many years but is no longer supported by a spouse's income, often due to divorce, separation, widowhood, or a spouse's disability, and who lacks the current job skills or employment history to secure adequate employment.

Displaced homemaker is usually formal, academic, legal, journalistic in register.

Displaced homemaker: in British English it is pronounced /dɪsˈpleɪst ˈhəʊmˌmeɪkə/, and in American English it is pronounced /dɪsˈpleɪst ˈhoʊmˌmeɪkər/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.