I have to say that of my own Home Economics classes, I've made more use of knowing how to sew and cook than I have of how to hammer out a cookie cutter on an anvil and then weld the ends together. Now I'm not saying that that's universal.

On the other hand, balancing a cheque book wasn't part of the curriculum where I was and given some of the idiots I've run into since, it probably should have been.