Economic Implications of Unpaid Domestic and Care Work of Women

Abstract

Introduction :

There is a bilateral relationship between economic growth and gender in/equality. That is, rising economic growth could potentially reduce gender inequality in terms of access to formal employment, gaps in pay, etc. Similarly, shrinking gender inequality (in terms of access to formal employment, gaps in pay, etc.) could potentially boost economic growth as well (Cuberes and Teignier, 2014). The services sector has hugely contributed to the rise in the labour force participation of women due to structural changes in the economy. Economic models estimate that the rise in service sector accounted for 44% of the increase in the hours worked by women and 11% decrease in the hours worked by men (Ngai and Petrongolo, 2013). Galor and Weil (1996) demonstrate that generally women have comparative advantage in the mental labour (brain) output whereas men have comparative advantage in the physical labour (brawn) output and therefore the rise in capital intensity of production as a result of economic growth raises the relative wage of women. Moreover, the higher wages of women and the consequent lower population growth result in greater capital per worker and higher output growth. Although gaps in gender inequality (in the labour market, political representation, and intra-household bargaining power) is faster in the developing countries compared to the developed countries in the past, it is still very high especially in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia including in Sri Lanka (Klasen and Lamanna, 2009).

The gender differences in the labour market are reflected not only in terms of access to jobs but also in terms of differences in productivity and earnings (World Bank 2012). Women who play multiple roles within households and society endure an opportunity cost for working outside the home for a wage. Thus, potential earnings and productivity are also critical factors that could affect labour force participation of women. Therefore, instead of jobs per se, the nature and effects of jobs available to women are what would determine labour force participation by women. Gender differences in the use of time and access to inputs influence productivity and earnings of women entrepreneurs, farmers, or workers alike (World Bank, 2012).

Similarly, education per se is not going to lift women out of inequality and dis-empowerment. For example, although women are the majority who enter the public universities in Sri Lanka, the bulk of them study arts, commerce, and humanities subjects that have very low employability (and low pay) in the labour market, especially in the private sector. In spite of sustained economic growth and significant improvements in access to education of women in the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia, the labour force participation rates of women in these sub-regions have been very low (26% and 35% respectively). In contrast, East Asia (65%) and Sub Saharan Africa (61%) have the highest among developing countries (World Bank, 2012).

However, in certain circumstances and senses armed conflict could transform the gender dynamics in favor of women in traditional conservative societies like Somalia. The informal sector jobs that are dominated by women world over, the unpaid household care work of women, and care economy are the key attention of economists and policymakers at this time of COVID-19 pandemic (Alon, Doepke, Olmstead-Rumsey, and Tertilt, 2020). Although this research study was conducted prior to the pandemic and the resultant lockdown and curfew, its relevance is all the more during this time of public health emergency, viz. COVID-19 pandemic, and its aftermath.

According to recent estimation, world’s women aged 15 and above are devoting 12.5 billion hours per day for care work without any remuneration and many more hours for underpaid care work (Coffey et al., 2020). In all the countries of the world, the annual unpaid care work of women aged 15 and over is estimated to be at least 10.8 trillion dollars, which is three times the size of the global technology industries (Coffey et al., 2020). The traditional measures of the economy do not account for the unpaid household and care work of women. However, unpaid household work is closely related to well-being.