Thursday, February 25, 2016
Closing The Unpaid Work Gap
The value of a woman’s work must be calculated on a 24-hour
basis, not just when she works her 9-5. The Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development has found that when it comes to unpaid work,
grocery shopping, child care, laundry, etc., women around the world spend 4.5
hours a day which is more than double that of a man. In Claire Miller’s article,
“How Society Pays When Women’s Work is Unpaid”, she states that in order to
balance out these numbers around the globe, it is important to embrace
technology, family-friendly policies, and cultural change.
Being an advanced state, it isn’t difficult to get our tasks
done in a timely fashion. We can load the dishwasher, put our clothes to dry,
and even make dinner, all within an hour. For less developed countries however,
these tasks can take hours and may even require long commutes to and from. Melinda
Gates, co-founder of the Gates foundation notes that with new initiatives, the
foundation will be supplying cellphones to women who cannot afford them in
order to increase productivity.
Paid leave, for both men and women, are essential policies
that can help balance the unpaid work gap. After giving birth, most women are
secluded to their homes while caring for their newborn and without paid leave
it is unlikely for them to return to work. Paternity leave is seen as
unnecessary since some feel that a woman is well equipped to care for an infant
alone but they fail to realize that compared to their financial support, moral
and physical support goes a long way.
As Miller stated and as I strongly support, changing the
mindset of males all around can better help break this never-ending cycle. I
believe it is significant to distribute the daily household tasks evenly among
partners, in addition to any and all financial obligations surrounding the
family. Without these efforts, women are
forced to be dependent upon their partner’s efforts in addition to restrained
in their independent streak.
Please follow this link to view the video created by the Lean In Campaign called #sharetheload, highlighting the imbalance in gender roles.
Miller,
Claire Cain. "How Society Pays When Women’s Work Is Unpaid." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
http://www.gatesfoundation.org
