Temitope Musowo
WOMEN
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND THE QUESTION OF UNPAID WORK
Paid and Unpaid work between men and women
It has
been said that in order for the world to progress socially and economically so
as to fulfil the overriding 2030 Agenda objective of leaving no one behind, the
entire population and its collective talents must be utilised.
This
position in recent time has sparked up debates on the distribution of paid and
unpaid work between women and men which has now been on the political agendas
of most developed countries.
It is
believed that women in all society are more involved in unpaid care work than
men. Women are said to devote significantly more time to household work
than men. They work as cooks, child minders and cleaning ladies for their own
households much more than men.
Although,
this work is essential for the quality of life of men, women and their
children, but the way it is shared between women and men according to women’s
advocates is said to be a major source of gender inequality.
This
inequality they said constitute serious barriers to women’s economic
empowerment as they spend much of their time on unpaid and less time on paid
work.
Therefore,
the conclusion that the amount of unpaid care work between men and women varies
among countries, social classes, family size, social norms and the availability
of substitute services spurred us into action, so we went to town to sample
opinions of people around here about this line of argument.
Equal time use in both paid and unpaid work for men and
women?.
Nkechi Ilochi-Omekedo, Manager
Women's Rights Programmes. ActionAid Nigeria believes women needed to be
appreciated by all and sundry for the unpaid work they do and the workload
should be shared.
‘’Unpaid care work is work. It
should be recognized, valued and appreciated by everyone, government,
communities, families and even women! Recognition means valuing it. We also
talk about redistribution which means that the workload should be shared within
households so that women and girls will have time to also pursue other
interests beyond household chores. So, men and boys should learn to share in
house chores
She also advocated for a working
policy framework from the part of government to ease women of burden of unpaid
care work, ‘’Unpaid work done mostly by women should be reduced through
concerted efforts by government and communities.
This means making our policies
work - for instance, Nigeria has an Early Childhood Education policy where
crèches are made available for 0-5 years within public schools and even in
private schools. If this is implemented, the fees are affordable, then, women
can have their babies cared for within specified hours and then have time for
rest and other opportunities’’, she said.
On whether men and women should
have equal time use in paid and unpaid work at home, she came up with a
formula, ‘’3Rs’’ in response to this, she said, ‘’it is not about having the
same time use really, but about the 3 Rs- recognition implying valuing the
unpaid care work by men and boys; redistribution- where men and boys can share
in household chores as well as women and girls; and then reduction- everyone-
from families, communities and government making effort to put in measures to
ensure facilities and services are available so that time spent on petty chores
are reduced.
There are labour saving machines
such as dish washers, if crèches, old people's homes, water, etc are made
available, then time spent by poor families who cannot afford the services can
be reduced’’.
The African perspective from an African man
Patrick Okohue, a journalist
spoke from an African perspective; he believes such debate should not even
arise in the first place, his words, ‘’you see, this line of argument is alien
to us here, it is un-Aprican, if I help my wife to do house shore she should
count it a privileged .she shouldn’t lord it over me or have an expectation
that because I did it for her yesterday so I should do it today again.
Nobody is saying women should not
work, but by nature, it is their duty to do house shores, cook, nurse babies
and others, if I chose to help, she should count it a privilege and not a right.
This argument of equal time use on
unpaid care work should not even arise, because the way we are going, one day
women will say men should start helping them to carry pregnancy that they
cannot be doing that alone while men remain free for nine months.
When you marry a women, you pay
her bride price, she assume that duty of taking care of the home, there is
nothing about gender equality in that. That is why you as a man need to be
responsible by making provision for the house
In the western world we are
looking at, that is why in case out divorce, everything a man worked for is
given to the woman, why don’t we say since we are agitating for equal time use
in unpaid work at home, then if anything happens, we should put everything
together and share equally before going our separate ways, after all, we both
worked to achieve those things,, he affirmed.
Women and job loss in the 4th Industrial
Revolution
Another feminine voice, one of
the loudest in the country at that, , President, Centre for Change and Women
Arise, Dr. Joe Okei- Odumakin is of the opinion that men and women should have
equal time use in unpaid work at the home front, she explained further with
reference to the 4th industrial revolution, ‘’One of the fundamental
ways of protecting the women against job loss in the 4th industrial
revolution is our ability to sustain the advocacy against gender disparity,
which has become a major reactionary culture in our private and public work
places and this is one of it. When women have less time spent on unpaid work,
it gives them more time for paid work, just like men, then they will be
economically empowered and less dependent on men.
Our ability to ensure equality of
work conditions, abolish disparity and promote competence above gender
considerations will play a long role, in this regard. A lot of our women and
domestic workers are often seen like machine, with much too much
responsibilities, our ability to promote equality and gender parity, will
eradicate this very backward Societal orientation’’ she concluded.
Women and job loss in the era of digital economy
She explained, ‘’Jobs loss is
real in an ever competitive world of work and women are affected just as men
are for many reasons. Most often, women are found in the informal sector and
the sector is mostly unregulated with poor working conditions. This makes them
vulnerable. Thus, to protect women against job loss, it means that the sector
which women are mostly found in should be regulated.
Private sector is guilty of this
the more, where staff are hired and fired at the will of the company owner(s)
without question. Women's position even makes them more vulnerable to job loss.
Another factor to consider is that not many women have the requisite skills or
are in management/leadership positions- if job cuts are to happen within an
institution or organisation, of course those in the lower ladder takes the
fall.
Women therefore need to learn
skills and be allowed within the management position. It is important to note
that without education and other opportunities which some women in certain
regions are denied of, achieving this becomes tricky.
But it is true! Especially for
the rural poor. Less women and girls are educated, meaning less skill, many
women and girls are "protected" from harm and danger by men and boys
meaning they would not be allowed to seek for better options, if there is less
money in the home to take care of children education, who would be stopped from
going to school- girls of course, even when she may be more intelligent than
her brother. Where does that leave her- less skill. So, they end up doing
precarious jobs, doing unpaid care work more than men
She however concluded by saying
that, ‘’Give women space, give them tool, give them knowledge, give them
opportunities, give them skill and there is no mountain they wouldn't climb’’’.
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