[OPINION] Unpaid care work by women is a public concern
The phenomenon of unpaid care, done mostly by women and girls, should be included in economic and legislative discussions, and prioritized in national spending and public services
Care has often been perceived as a private matter — that which should be left within the four walls of one’s home or within the confines of a hospital. This is reflected in how expenses for care-related activities are often shouldered by an individual and her family. From the most basic products for hygiene, health, and nutrition to the larger expenses on health care, families have had to grapple with the high cost of survival each and every day.
The reality is that care is an essential aspect of every facet of our lives, from the home, to our schools, to the workplace, and virtually all public spaces. Never was this more pronounced than when the world was on the brink of collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the tireless and often unrewarded labor of women and all unpaid care workers that nursed its household members into their own strength, wellness, and productivity.
As alluded to in the earlier paragraphs, care work is inherently gendered. Gendered norms and stereotypes invariably assign care giving responsibilities to women and girls with the false notion that they are more equipped to carry such responsibilities. In particular, the burden of unpaid care work has largely been left to be carried by the hands of mothers, daughters, sisters, and women in households. Globally, women perform three times as much unpaid care work than men while women in the Philippines spend 13 hours of their daily lives performing unpaid care work activities, seven hours of which is spent multitasking.
Unpaid care work involves activities such as cooking, cleaning, caring for the sick, and any other tasks that are necessary to ensure the health and wellness of people within a household. It is also referred to as “reproductive work” in contradistinction to “productive work,” which refers to work or activities that have monetary value.
The use of the term is a misnomer and has proven to be detrimental for women as it undervalues the kind of work, skills, and contributions that are classified under reproductive work. In a phallogocentric society which places more importance on traditionally male or masculine roles and activities, care work is often deemed less important than “productive” work which directly produces monetary outcomes.
The undervaluing of women’s unpaid care work is apparent in the lack of clear mechanisms to measure and support care activities. Until recently, it was virtually invisible in government data and literature. The relentless calls by womens’ and feminist groups in the Philippines and all over the world to bring unpaid care work to the forefront of the discussion on women’s and labor rights led to recent efforts by the Philippine Commission on Women, in partnership with Oxfam Philippines and the UN Women, to capture sex disaggregated data on hours spent in care work during the pandemic.
Unpaid care work involves a multitude of activities which are affected by the structure of a community. Public spending on specific infrastructure and services is necessary to alleviate the burden of care. This involves the availability of clean and accessible water for drinking and cleaning, of cheap and efficient transportation systems for ease of mobility, of free and accessible health services, of inclusive and safe infrastructure such as ramps for persons with disabilities (PWDs), and of other resources designed to ensure that all people can participate meaningfully in all spheres of public life. At the moment, the design of most cities in the Philippines reflect that of a society in which only middle-upper class and able-bodied individuals can participate and thrive.
This reality makes the burden of care more difficult for women and all unpaid care workers. The lack of mobility and access to basic goods and services necessary for survival means that women have to work twice as hard to procure what is necessary for them to accomplish their unpaid care work and to ensure their family’s survival.
It is high time that we begin to recognize unpaid care work and the entire care economy as a gender, economic, and political issue. Valuing and supporting unpaid care work is central to ensuring an inclusive and thriving economy, but, more than that, it is essential in realizing the labor and economic rights of women and girls. For centuries, families, communities, countries, and the entire global economy have had to rely on unpaid care work of women and girls while denying them the opportunity to freely choose a life that is both meaningful and rewarding for them. Alleviating the burden of care will remove one barrier for women and girls to discover their own place in this world.
The burden of unpaid care work should be:
- Recognized in government data and literature;
- Reduced through the help of public spending on infrastructure and services;
- Redistributed to members of the family, communities, and society;
- Rewarded through tax and fiscal policies;
- Women and unpaid care workers should be represented in decision-making bodies which decide their fates as workers.
Care is a public concern which should be included in economic and legislative discussions. Upholding the 5Rs of unpaid care work starts with its prioritization in national spending and public services. As the old adage goes, if women stop, the world stops. Indeed, when women stop their care responsibilities at home, the world comes to a halt and all economic activities will seize as the grown men, women, and people who sit in corporate boardrooms, congress, schools, and other “productive” institutions will struggle with the weight of their own survival. – Rappler.com
Meggy Katigbak is a feminist researcher and gender specialist. She works as a consultant in the international development sector. Her research interests involve tax and gender justice, the care economy, women in mining, and institutional trauma and violence against women and their children.