WUNRN
ECLAC -
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean,
has 44 member States and 8 non-independent territories in the
Caribbean, and reports to the UN Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC). It is one of five regional commissions under the administrative
direction of United Nations headquarters.
ECLAC - Economic Policies Must Consider Unpaid Work of
Women - Need Data
|
Photo: Carlos Vera/ECLAC |
Unpaid work of
women represents a significant percentage of GDP in the countries of Latin
America and the
However, the
situation in the region is gradually changing thanks to efforts made by
feminist groups, study centres and governments, which have been incorporating
measures to make this phenomenon more widely known and give it due importance
in economies.
Distinguished
international experts analysed this issue at the conference entitled “The political economy of gender equality”, which was held at ECLAC headquarters on 1 December 2011.
During the
opening of the meeting, Alicia
Bárcena, Executive
Secretary of this regional commission of the United Nations, highlighted the
importance of making progress so that the political economy of gender equality
penetrates all sectors of society and is established as a key element of
macroeconomic policies.
“It is
important to break the statistical silence so that the real time which women
dedicate to care work (of children, old persons and disabled) is made known,”
she said. “Much progress has been made, but there is still much to do… The
conceptions of gender must permeate all State public policies,” she stressed.
María Ángeles Durán, Professor from the Centre for Human and Social Sciences of the
Institute for Economics, Geography and Demography of Spain, stated that not
enough investment has been made to measure the “enormous effort in terms of
work time” which women have made outside the market.
“Macroeconomic
analysis must be changed completely. It must include resources which are not valued,
such as unpaid work of women,” she said.
For example,
she said that in
Devaki Jain, Economist of the Institute of Social Studies Trust of India,
also highlighted the importance of unpaid work of women. “We believe that women
can generate growth through unpaid work,” she declared.
She carried
out an analysis of the situation following the global crisis (2008), in which
South-South cooperation has gained great importance. “Now is the time for
economic and social democracy and this means considering women’s ideas on how
to rebuild the world,” she declared.
“Gender
equality cannot be achieved by itself. It must form part of economic policies
and change the very meaning of these policies,” she stated.
Indira Hirway, Director from the Center for Development Alternatives,
She explained
that unpaid work subsidizes the market economy, since it reduces the cost of
work and the funds allocated for wages, and at the same time it raises earnings
and accumulation. “If unpaid work did not exist, employers would have to pay
higher salaries to their workers, therefore, reducing their earnings,” she
stated.
Sonia Montaño, Director of the Division for Gender Affairs of ECLAC, closed the conference highlighting the fact that gender
equality thinking has gradually shifted to the public sector.
She also
recounted the main ideas discussed during the Forty-sixth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional
Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was held from 28 to 30 November at ECLAC headquarters and was attended by ministers and authorities for
Women from 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the International Seminar Policies on time, time for policies, which discussed how men and women are distributing their time,
taking into account paid work, household duties and other daily activities.
Montaño stated that it is of utmost importance to have a real
discussion on equality, “which is based on the concept of total workload, which
includes the production of goods and services in the public and private
sectors”. “The concept of work as something associated only with a wage and
income must change,” she stressed.
She also
highlighted the fact that some countries in the region are already producing
time-use statistics due to the huge demand for care activities which has
emerged. However, she stressed that it is not enough to show figures relating
to equality, but arguments to encourage the participation of women in all
sectors must also be given.