Recognizing women’s unpaid care role at homes can be a great tool for women empowerment. Critically examine
- January 9, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPS Topics
Approach:
In the Introduction, define care economy and explain why care economy is an indispensable part of every human life. (The demand for care work is set to surge by 2030 due to a number of factors).
In the body add ILO findings on how women contribute more to the Care economy in household.
(International Labour Organization (ILO) published a report titled ‘Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work’ in 2018).
Now examine the reasons for recognizing care economy at homes:
- Domestic violence
- Unpaid labour
- Patriarchy and women subjugation
- Time use data (Time-use data from 2019 gathered by the National Sample Survey Organization revealed that only about a quarter of men and boys above six years engaged in unpaid household chores, compared to over four-fifths of women. Every day, an average Indian male spends 1.5 hours per day in unpaid domestic work, compared to about five hours by a female)
- Women are always in the receiving end
- Climate change and women ( Women takes the burden more since they are confined to household chores)
- Gender inequality(care work has an undisputable gender burden with two-thirds of all care workers being women who dedicate themselves to unpaid care work 3.2 times more often than men)
- The 2019 ILO report ‘A Quantum Leap for Gender Equality’ identified unpaid care work as the biggest impediment to women’s formal employment, as it engaged 21.7 per cent of women between 18-54 years of age, as opposed to 1.7 per cent of men.
Possible outcomes:
Women empowerment (Putting money in the hands of women)
Gender equality
- Basic income
- Rise in nutritional status of family and children
- Decision making
- Breaks the notion of receivers
- Why recognising alone will not work?
- It doesn’t ensure quality education and skill training Breaks the very notion of care in the household
- Becomes an entitlement rather than a service
What should be done?
- Providing skill training
- Empowerment through education
- Gender sensitive and harassment free household and work place
- Awareness creation
What Government should do?
Gender budgeting, Strengthening Domestic violence act, Providing more benefits for women through various schemes, Moral education on school syllabus emphasizing on Gender equality.( Article 14,15,16, DPSP)
In the conclusion, Summarize why mere recognition will not add value unless the patriarchal mindset changes. Emphasise the need for gender equality based education and practices which should start right from household.