It's keeping the family part of the community. One can think of it as the actual social network. Through friendly interactions with the other housewife's around, relevant knowledge about the going on in the community is shared. It helps with finding reliable tradespeople and doctors and other things of this nature. And just from an empathic point of view:

If I was a worker who was away from home 12 hours a day, I would want for my partner to have a good life with happyness and joy while I am away. Of course it's better to come home to a person who feels she is living a fulfilled life, rather than someone who has been lonley the whole day. Makes you feel as if the long hours are actually making a difference.