Gender inequality: Women’s cheap and free labor is sustaining a ‘sexist economic system’

According to a recent report by Oxfam, the unpaid work women do adds up to $10.8 trillion per year

KARACHI: While the world has made a lot of progress in the field of human rights, both in terms of international laws and spreading awareness, it still has a long way to go when it comes to bridging the economic gap between genders.

Per Oxfam’s annual report, economic inequality has gone out of control, so much so that only 2,153 of the world’s billionaires have more wealth than 4.6 billion people. Not only is all the wealth of the world accumulated in a few hands but this inequitable distribution of wealth is founded on sexism.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10.8 TRILLION

That's how much the unpaid care industry is worth.
In financial terms alone.
Every year.

Let's #MakeCareCount
👉 https://t.co/tH74mVg5V0#FightInequality pic.twitter.com/KZJ3NUTUNi

— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) January 23, 2020

Titled “Time to care – unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis,” the report shows that across the globe, men own 50% more wealth as compared to women. Globally, the most important economic and political positions are occupied by 21 men, whereas only 18% of ministers and 24% of parliamentarians are women. Similarly, when it comes to the corporate world, data from different countries reveal that of the total, only 34% of managerial positions are held by women.

To top it all off, while the richest people of the world – who are mostly men – continue to accumulate massive amounts of wealth and power, billions of women and girls render their labour for free in the form of care work – such as tending to others, cooking, cleaning, fetching water and firewood – for the wellbeing of societies, communities and the functioning of the economy.

The report revealed that each year across the globe, the monetary value of unpaid care work rendered by women aged 15 and over is at least $10.8 trillion.

More than three-quarters of all unpaid care work is performed by women. The additional burden of unpaid care work compels women to either reduce their work hours or completely drop out of the workforce. Global statistics also show that owing to the responsibilities associated with caregiving, 42% of women cannot find jobs as compared to just six per cent of men.

Moreover, two-thirds of the paid “care workforce” comprise women. Occupations such as nursery workers, domestic workers, and care assistants are often poorly paid, they provide scant benefits, impose irregular hours, and can take a physical and emotional toll.

The situation in Pakistan

While gender and economic inequality is a global phenomenon, it particularly holds true for a country like Pakistan where, despite constituting 49% of the country’s population, only 24% of women are part of the labour force. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) data indicates that in Pakistan, the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for men (82.5%) is more than three times higher than women (24.8%). This naturally means that most women in Pakistan render care work for which they neither receive recognition nor receive any monetary compensation.

Speaking on the issue in the context of Pakistan, Asia lead for inequality at Oxfam Mustafa Talpur told The Express Tribune that unpaid work is extremely important because it helps to sustain our society.

“Unfortunately, women have to work too much and the majority of their work is unpaid, unrecognised and invisible. It is a norm here that men go to work to earn money while women provide care work at home, which is not acknowledged,” he said. “Even when women take up paid care work, for instance, providing domestic services which is very common across Pakistan, they are extremely underpaid.”

He explained that domestic workers do not get any job contracts, they have no workers’ union, and they are not paid minimum wage, which is Rs17,000. As a result, there is rampant exploitation and nothing is being done about it.



Who is to blame?

While statistics portray a grim picture of women’s economic inequality and the Oxfam report suggests that care work should be considered as skilled work and paid at par with other skilled work, Zeenia Shaukat, a development professional who has led programmes on labour rights, pointed out that there is a problem with linking productivity of women and men with economic reward because it sidelines their importance as social actors and also puts a thick veil on the role of the state in denying any kind of support to women and families in advancing through their lifecycle.

“The entire narrative on women’s care work in Pakistan’s development discourse is directed at women’s inability to participate in economically rewarding activities, such as employment or entrepreneurship because of the “burden” of care work,” Zeenia said.

“The onus is placed on the family to release women so that they can spend their time more productively by bringing income home.”

Citing the United Nations’ recent Rural Household Panel Survey (RHPS) conducted in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, Zeenia pointed out that in a given day, and women spend two hours collecting water and firewood and another four hours in care work that includes cooking, cleaning and looking after children and elderly.

“If six hours of the day are spent in responsibilities that could have otherwise been addressed by the state delivering on its responsibility towards providing water and utilities to every household and the provision of support system for family members, it is rather clear where the problem lies,” she said.

“The Pakistani state has failed to install an infrastructure that addresses factors that give rise to and amplifies care work. The state’s abdication from fundamental services such as healthcare, public safety, education, and provision of utilities such as water has increased the care burden of women immeasurably. Ironically, the state’s discourse then also blames women and families for spending too much time addressing these responsibilities and not doing enough to be productive.

There is need for a review of how the state’s conduct is adding to the care burden and development of policies that deliver on services that are otherwise being put on the shoulders of women.”

What should be done?

Shedding light on plausible solutions to tackle the problem of unpaid and underpaid care work and the systemic marginalisation of women, Mustafa Talpur referenced the report and said that a fairer human, feminist economy is the need of the hour.

“The 4Rs framework – recognise, reduce, redistribute and represent (care work) –must be implemented, as suggested by experts. First, unpaid work must be recognised to work out a solution. Then comes redistribution, which means that men and women must share the burden of domestic chores. On a state level, the government can introduce a wider programme of redistributive policies, which are aimed at closing the gap between rich and poor, such as progressive taxation, free public services and social protection, and policies to limit the influence of corporations and the super-rich.”

He added that reducing care work is also important and explained that if the government provides essential public services, for instance, state-funded care centres for children and the elderly, or invest in care-supporting infrastructures like access to water, sanitation and electricity, it can spare women and girls some extra hours which they otherwise spend performing unpaid care work.

“Lastly, and most importantly, carers must be represented, given a voice and must have a political agency otherwise recognition, reduction and redistribution cannot be implemented.”