Investigates the rise of a new `servant' class in response to demands by the middle class, and the socio-economic trends which have led to this and profound change this reflects in our concepts of motherhood, class and gender relations.

"Servicing the Middle Classes" investigates the resurgence in demand for waged domestic labor in Britain during the 1980s and early 1990s and the consequent growth of a new "servant" class. Examining the conditions and trends which have cojoined to produce and reproduce this labor force, the books draws extensively on two case studies to explore the day-to-day practices, composition, geography of demand, and social relations of the two major forms of waged domestic labor in contemporary Britain--nannies and cleaners.

The book concludes by considering the effects of the ideologies of motherhood, false kinship relations, and caring on the ways in which domestic workers are employed, and examines the broader theoretical implications of the study for debates on class and gender and its implications for feminist politics.