WUNRN
Unpaid Care Work in the Post-2015 Framework
Response to the zero draft report for Open Working Group 12 June 2014
Summary
The
inclusion of unpaid care in the post-2015 framework is vital to spur meaningful
progress towards gender equality, and will have positive impacts on the
achievement of many other development goals. Freeing women’s time from caring
duties will enhance their prospects for economic empowerment and political
participation. Fairer sharing of care roles will reduce the risk of violence against
women, improve the health outcomes and educational opportunities of both women
and their children, and create space to challenge discriminatory gender stereotypes. The
key is to foster a more equal sharing of unpaid care within households and communities,
and ensure better provision of public services to support care. The briefing
concludes with recommendations for a target on unpaid care within a standalone
gender goal, and indicators that could be used to measure progress.
Introduction
The Gender
and Development Network is delighted that the issue of unpaid care is now being
discussed in the context of the post-2015 framework. In the ‘zero draft’ proposed goals and
targets issued following the 11th session of the Open Working Group,
a target on unpaid care work is included (point 5.6)[i][1]. It is now crucial that Member States make
unpaid care work a priority issue for the final framework. Below we lay out the reasons why unpaid care
should be incorporated into the post-2015 agenda – and how.
A striking
consensus is emerging about the importance of unpaid care work[ii][2];
but there is still a real risk it could be left out, partly due to some
misunderstandings of the issue. Looking back on this process in 10 or 15 years
this exclusion would be cause for great regret, especially given the
ever-growing body of evidence on the impact of unpaid care work on women’s
rights and poverty.
The omission
of violence against women from the Millennium Development Goals – in the face
of claims that it was a ‘cultural’ issue and not relevant to development - is
now seen as a clear oversight. Like violence against women, the unfair and
unequal distribution of unpaid care work spans all cultures and societies –and
must be tackled forcefully as an obstacle to gender equality and development
and an affront to women’s rights and dignity. Women’s overwhelming
responsibility for unpaid care work is not a ‘cultural’ issue to be relegated
to the private sphere: it is a transcultural phenomenon with profound social
and economic impacts. Everyone receives and gives unpaid care at some point in
their lives; it occurs daily in every household in the world. If included in national accounts, the unpaid
care economy would represent between 15 to over 50 percent of national Gross
Domestic Products[iii][3].
What is unpaid care work?
- Domestic work: cooking and food preparation,
cleaning, washing clothes, water and fuel collection.
- Direct care of persons: including children,
older persons, persons with disabilities, and able-bodied adults.
Who does unpaid care work?
In every
country and region of the world, women perform the majority of unpaid care work
– and work longer hours than men overall.[iv][4]
The 2012 World Development Report found that women devote 1 to 3 hours more a
day to housework than men; 2 to 10 times the amount of time a day to care (of
children, elderly, and the sick), and 1 to 4 hours less a day to market
activities.[v][5] On average, women spend twice
as much time on household work as men and four times as much time on childcare.[vi][6]
WHY should unpaid care work be included in the post-2015
development agenda?
Reducing and
redistributing unpaid care can have a major positive impact on achieving gender
equality and in meeting other development goals, by freeing up women’s time and
boosting their social status, earning power and political involvement.
The gendered
distribution of unpaid care work is universal, but it has the greatest impact
on the poorest women (who cannot afford private services or domestic
technologies, and often live in areas underserved by public services),
perpetuating their poverty and increasing their social exclusion. Therefore, a
target on unpaid care will be essential in enabling the post-2015 efforts to
benefit the poorest-of-the-poor and the hardest-to-reach.
Tackling the unequal distribution of unpaid care work would have three
main benefits:
1. Empowering women by enhancing their income, time and opportunities
Reducing the unpaid care work women do would remove
major obstacles to their economic and political empowerment. In Latin America
and the Caribbean, over half of women aged 20-24 cited their unpaid care work
as their main reason for not seeking a job outside the home (more than the
number of their peers in the education system)[vii][7];
while in South Africa 80 per cent of family caregivers have reported that their
income is reduced because of their care work.[viii][8]
A. Women’s disproportionate share
of unpaid care work limits opportunities for paid work and income generating activities. It thus affects their
income, savings and pensions and perpetuates their economic disempowerment, in
the household and in wider society. Women with very heavy care workloads may
have little or no time for paid work, especially if they have to collect water
and fuel every day.[ix][9] Others are forced to accept informal jobs
with low pay, little job security and no social protection due to their care
constraints.
B.
Unpaid care work affects women and girls’ education. Some girls may be withdrawn
from school to help with domestic chores and care of younger siblings; many
more will have their time for study or school activities cut short by domestic
responsibilities. A survey in 16 countries found that 10 per cent of girls aged
5-14 perform household chores for 28 hours or more weekly (approximately twice
the hours spent by boys), with a measurable impact on their school attendance.[x][10]
Later in life, women with care responsibilities have less time for further
education or training opportunities than men.
C.
Unpaid care work can be a major obstacle to women’s
ability to participate in politics and
public affairs – from community decision-making forums to national
parliaments. Firstly, their care responsibilities and lack of support or
alternatives (such as affordable childcare) create practical difficulties for
engagement. Secondly, the pervasive gender stereotypes that assign women
responsibility for unpaid care, also stifle their political voice by dictating
that their ‘place is in the home’ while men occupy the public sphere.
2.
Upholding
women’s dignity, autonomy and human rights
A. In some contexts, unpaid care work can increase
vulnerability to violence against women
and girls, for example through risk of assault while fetching fuel or
water.
B.
Heavy burdens of unpaid care work can also take a huge
toll on health; it can be arduous,
emotionally stressful, and even dangerous (for example through exposure to
communicable diseases or fumes/burns from cooking stoves). Studies show that
HIV/AIDS caregivers experience a negative impact on physical and mental health.[xi][11]
Women with heavy unpaid care responsibilities may also lack time or money to
access health care services.
C. Gender stereotypes related to family, care and work are pervasive and pernicious in every society – for example casting men as breadwinners and women as carers and nurturers. These create constrained social roles for women and girls, limiting their power, choices, dignity, rights and opportunities – and casting them as second-class citizens.
3. Boosting progress towards other development goals and targets
The potential of the post-2015 agenda to eradicate
poverty, tackle inequality and boost enjoyment of human rights will be greatly
enhanced if the issue of unpaid care work is included.
A. Firstly, poverty reduction measures are less effective when women are left
behind and where gender inequality is rife.[xii][12]
The negative impacts of unpaid care work on women’s opportunities and income
are also felt by their families, households and wider communities.
B. The positive effect of gender
equality on poverty reduction and economic growth is now well known[xiii][13];
achieving a more equal distribution of unpaid care work is a crucial lever for levelling the playing field
between women and men.
C. As already described, progress
towards targets on women and girls’
health, education and political participation would be undermined if unpaid
care work is ignored.
D. Targets related to children’s health and education could
also be jeopardized when women have to perform childcare unsupported.
E. Furthermore, because unpaid
care work is fundamental to so many aspects of life, ensuring it is better
shared and supported could also foster better progress towards diverse targets,
such as those on hunger, water and
sanitation, energy, human settlements, and ecosystems.
HOW should it be included?
A target on
reducing and redistributing unpaid care work should be included under a goal on
gender equality. Contrary to some misconceptions, the end goal is not to
provide ‘wages for housework’. Rather it
is to ensure that the extent of unpaid care work is fully recognised, and that
the amount of care work done by women is reduced by sharing it more fairly
within household and communities, and by greater provision of care services by
governments.[xiv][14]
The current
wording of the target in the OWG 12 zero draft is “reduce and redistribute
unpaid care and domestic work through shared responsibility”[xv][15].
Although this provides welcome recognition of the issue, a slightly different
phrasing could better illuminate the problems and collective solutions.
Suggested
target wording:
ð
reduce and redistribute unpaid care and domestic work through shared
responsibility within households,
communities and societies
There are
several indicators that could
potentially be used effectively to measure progress under this target.[xvi][16]
· Reducing women’s time burdens:
o Average
weekly number of hours spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex;
o Average
time spent on fuelwood collection, by sex;
o Average
time spent on water collection (including waiting time at public supply
points), by sex.
· Provision of child care:
o Proportion
of children under primary school age in organized childcare.
· Improved gender-sensitive infrastructure and public services[xvii][17]:
o Proportion
of households within 15 minutes of nearest water source.
· Investments in affordable time-saving domestic technologies:
o Proportion
of households with fuel-efficient stoves (disaggregated by income and
rural/urban).