Domestic work and care work
(Transcript of the Column by Karina Batthyány
in InfoCLACSO 22 of July 2020)
Last week we began discussing the issue of inequality in Latin America. Let's take a look at the labor market, which has two components. We reviewed some data related to the labor market itself; today I propose we address the other component. Just as work has a paid component, it also has an unpaid component. This includes all those activities we perform, as the name suggests, without receiving any compensation. And within this unpaid work, we have two elements, which is what I propose we dedicate today's session to: domestic work and care work.
Why dedicate ourselves to this topic? It has always been an important issue, but I think that now, with this pandemic, it has become even clearer that if there is one thing that hasn't stopped in these four months, neither in Latin America nor in the world, it is care work. Because indeed, in every society, everyone has dependents to care for at some point in their life cycle. What do I mean by this? Children, the elderly, people with disabilities. And we also have people who care for, or who care for, these dependents. And the question we must ask ourselves is precisely how our societies address these care needs, which are a critical and essential component for the well-being of society as a whole. We know that there are many ways to provide this care, but what is the characteristic of Latin America in general? While acknowledging the differences that may exist between our countries, this care is primarily found in what we call the private sphere, or the family or households. But, if we look a little deeper, we find that it's not families in general that are providing care, but rather the women within families who are doing so in an unpaid capacity. We have some data: before the Covid-19 pandemic, in Latin America women dedicated between 22 and 42 hours per week to caregiving and domestic work. That's almost a full workday, according to the ILO (International Labour Organization) definition. And, of course, this varies depending on the living conditions of these families, their households, and their available resources.
-In that sense, speaking of the conditions and characteristics of those households, what relationship exists between countries where there are more instances of sexism and where societies are more conservative? Do these rates of incidence increase when women have to take on more caregiving responsibilities?
-In general, in Latin America these differences are very small between countries compared to what you're saying. That is, depending on the prevalence of conservative patterns or machismo in society. Actually, the biggest difference—which is why I'm talking about between 22 and 42 hours per week—is due to the characteristics of the households. That is, how many people there are to care for, how many people need care, but above all, the socioeconomic level and where those households live. For example, according to the data we always have for Latin America and the Caribbean, households that currently lack access to drinking water: to those 22 to 42 hours per week I was mentioning, we have to add another 5 to 12 hours per week just because they don't have drinking water in their taps, not being able to turn on the tap and have clean water come out. What has the greatest impact there, I insist, is where these households are located, their composition, and their level of resources. Everything else, so to speak, is a constant. In other words, women are the ones dedicating this time to work and caregiving throughout the region; and not only in the region, because these statistics also exist for other countries, and we observe that the time dedicated is also around 30 hours per week. That is to say, a great deal of time is dedicated to this, and it is unpaid work, I reiterate, and it is done by women.
We can also connect this to what we discussed last week. That is, the whole issue of women and access to work, the greater informality and social vulnerability of women in our region. And this really leads us to consider the idea that in our countries, labor markets, companies, and the economic system in general continue to embrace the concept of an “ideal worker.” What is this “ideal worker”? It seems to be a male, urban worker, and above all, a worker who doesn't have domestic or caregiving responsibilities. And who, therefore, can freely choose (we already know what “freely” means) between dedicating more time to paid work or to leisure or other activities, but this caregiving component never appears. And I bring this up today because if there's one thing that has exploded in our faces during this pandemic, it's precisely the essential nature of caregiving activities and how households—and women within households—have been overburdened with all these tasks. Let's consider that in addition to the activities that were already being done, all those related to confinement and all those related to the transfer of school activities or the education sector to homes were added, and under someone's supervision... and that someone, according to the preliminary data we have for our region, coincidentally (and not coincidentally) is also a woman taking on these tasks.
-Some people watching might think the solution lies solely in cultural changes that shift people's mindsets to adopt different models within family structures. What role does the State play in promoting design changes where caregiving responsibilities aren't solely left to the discretion of women?
That's precisely one of the central points: understanding that the sexual division of labor plays a role in this issue—as we've discussed before—at different levels. At the micro level, as you rightly pointed out, at the level of families, in the negotiations that each person makes within their family unit. But also at the meso and macro levels, where, if we understand care as a key element for well-being (as was demonstrated during this pandemic), then we have to say: there is a shared responsibility among the agents that provide well-being. And there are at least four agents that provide well-being: the State, the market, the family, and communities. Therefore, the State has a greater responsibility to guarantee the existence of services and policies that address this issue of care, which is also one of the critical points of gender inequality. It's one of the points that prevents women from having the same level of opportunities and development throughout their lives as men, creating a barrier to gender equality. For something as simple as this: the day has 24 hours, and if we have to dedicate 4, 5, 6 hours a day or more, sometimes, to caring and doing housework, I'm going to have much less time left to train, to participate in the labor market, to rest, or to do other kinds of activities.
I was thinking about the importance of simply getting things moving, of raising these issues, especially among people who might not have even considered these topics before. And how recently we've seen more conservative sectors linked to the right even starting to incorporate these discourses, which previously seemed off-limits in research circles and feminist movements. And I was thinking about this specialization and international course, "Care Policies with a Gender Perspective." This second cohort, whose registration has just been announced by CLACSO, is one we know you're part of, and the invitation has been extended, because I understand that these issues are very relevant and impactful.
-Absolutely. As you rightly pointed out, in recent years this issue has gained importance in our region and has been placed on the discussion agenda, on the public agenda. Because of everything we've discussed today, CLACSO has offered a specialization program since last year, and we're now launching its second cohort on these topics: gender, care work, and public policy. We understand that this is one of the critical points of gender inequality and inequality in general. And that's why we're going to address everything we've discussed today, and many other topics, in this specialization program, which we invite everyone to learn about and, hopefully, to participate in.
If you would like to receive more information about CLACSO's training programs:
[widget id=”custom_html-57″]
to our email lists.
