While home economics is a valuable skill for anyone, few of the other skills mentioned above are of any value in year 2004. Most have been replaced by the PC, or the changing economics of clothing. Almost no one repairs clothing in year 2004, where items like socks are so cheap that they are almost not worth washing. But for lingering protectionism in the US, few textiles or clother are made in the US any longer, and few women in year 2004 would know what to do with a sewing machine. How long this situation will last is anyone's guess.