If being “a housewife” is a more difficult job than going to the office, why is it important that the husband earn somewhere near his wife’s salary? Why shouldn’t he fill the “more difficult” job of taking care of the home?
Seems to me your two points contradict each other.
work at home is mostly monotonous, yet stressful and physical. It is daily operations and if one compares the job of a homemaker to say a 1920s Ford assembly line worker, then work at home is more difficult imho
Compared to say the job of a secretary, it is difficult in a different way.
Why is it important? Because of man's sense of worth.