This piece was written by Yenuli Ranaweera, a Research Assistant and Rojie Ekanayake, a Programme and Research Officer at Arutha.
Imagine a mother rising long before dawn. Her day begins with making breakfast for her family, packing lunches, waking the children, and getting them ready for school. She tackles the laundry, goes grocery shopping, and perhaps even heads to work amidst these responsibilities. These tasks are essential for the well-being of this family and lay the foundation for the entire economy, and yet are not captured in labour statistics.
Much of this work goes unrecognised because it is unpaid and done at home or within one’s community rather than in a formal workplace. The recent Economic Transformation Bill which aims to entice at least 40% of working-age women into the labour force by 2030 and the Women Empowerment Act have reignited this discussion around women’s contribution to the economy. But these laws largely overlook what is known as social reproduction.
Social reproduction focuses on how labour, particularly unpaid care work, supports the economy by ensuring that both current and future workers or children are fed, cared for, and ready to engage in paid work. It is crucial that we value this immense effort properly, ensuring that the responsibility of creating a happy and healthy society is shared fairly.
Recognising and valuing unpaid labour is key to reducing gender disparities in the paid workforce, which, in turn, helps boost economic progress and facilitate higher female participation in the labour force.
Complexity of low FLFP
Over the past decade and even beyond, the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among women in Sri Lanka has consistently lagged behind that of men.
What that means is the share of women who are employed or seeking employment from among all the working-age women is much lower than the same measure for men. However, the issue of low Female Labour Force Participation (FLFP) is more complicated than it appears at first glance.
The idea of social reproduction highlights the interdependence between paid work and unpaid care work. The issue is not just that women are not in the workforce; it’s about how we define and value work.
All women are working women, but we often discount their countless hours of unpaid labour as being ‘economically inactive’. This means that the unpaid labour of women often goes unrecognised in labour statistics, masking the true extent of women’s contributions to the economy.
The problem is not necessarily that this work is unpaid. As the name itself suggests, those who do such work are not expecting financial compensation and do it because it is a part of their caring role. Rather, it is the fact that these social roles construct care as ‘women’s work’ and therefore it receives little to no support from either family, workplace, or the state, so that this becomes a burden on them.
According to Sri Lanka’s Time Use Survey 2017, 87.3% of women and girls above the age of 10 participated in housework and care work compared to only 59.7% of men and boys. Moreover, the time and energy spent on these tasks add to the increasing load on women and girls.
For example, this survey found that women dedicate nearly twice as much time to unpaid care work serving household or family members in relation to men. It also showed that the types of tasks performed by men and women in the household and wider community tend to be different and that tasks that require frequent attention and greater care, such as domestic chores and caregiving, were carried out mainly by women.
As mentioned previously, the lack of support systems worsens this issue. A study done by the World Bank of urban Sri Lankan households showed that women’s non-market work did not depend on their husbands’ income but on the share of housework and childcare of other adults in the household.
This means that mothers are more likely to participate in the labour force if they can share their childcare and household responsibilities with others. Introducing policies to support care work therefore not only benefits women, but even men who perform these tasks.
Unpaid care, women’s potential and the economy
The economic implications of unpaid care work are profound. Women being disproportionately saddled with such work reduces their availability for paid employment, which can act as a barrier for them to enter the labour force. This in turn leads to gender disparities in the labour market.
To be able to juggle care responsibilities at home, even women who are already employed may be pushed into employment in the informal and vulnerable sectors or into unemployment. It affects the financial independence of women and financial security, especially those who do not have access to social protection schemes like the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) or the Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF).
For women who are already employed, unpaid care work can double their workload, adding to their professional responsibilities and resulting in them working longer hours and having less time for paid work, self-care, leisure, or even rest.
This is known as time poverty, the constant pressure of having insufficient time for essential activities. This shortage of time extends beyond a mere inconvenience and can lead to burnout, physical ailments, and mental health issues. It could even affect their professional life adversely by limiting women’s ability to engage in skill development, networking, or seeking better employment opportunities.
The recent economic crisis Sri Lanka faced also showed how vulnerable women can become. When a financial crisis spills over into the home, women face extra burdens as they care for their household members with limited resources. With schools and childcare centres closed throughout the pandemic, women had to take on a bigger caregiving role at home. Many women had to reduce their working hours or leave the workforce altogether to tend to their children, spouses, and even elderly family members.
Bridging the gap: Policy solutions for unpaid work
The economy’s dependence on unpaid care work brings up the paradox where the entire system relies on this hidden form of labour. Addressing this through comprehensive policies and societal changes is essential to achieve gender equality, not only in the labour market but also in the home and wider society, which is necessary for sustainable development.
Care work must be prioritised in policymaking and budget setting. The Government could work towards allocating specific funds to support and expand public services or programmes that significantly reduce the unpaid care workload on households.
For instance, in rural Nepal, it was shown that creating community-run child care centres eased the care burden of mothers with young children, thereby allowing them to engage in paid work like crushing stones and working on farms.
While many policies can be implemented to increase FLFP, to improve women’s welfare, participation in paid work must enhance their lives rather than reduce their well-being. Without reducing the time spent on housework or care work, taking on paid work will simply add to their burden, making it unsustainable to expect higher rates of workforce participation from those already handling all housework.
Targeted investment in infrastructure, providing basic services in a timely manner, and improving access to essential services like electricity, water, and sanitation is one way in which the time women spend on unpaid care work can be reduced. For example, a study showed that improved access to water was associated with more leisure time for women in Uganda and Zimbabwe.
One of the main reasons why women may choose to leave or not enter the formal labour force is childcare responsibilities. Therefore, providing subsidies or public provision of quality childcare can significantly enhance women’s participation in the labour force.
However, no single policy may benefit all equally. There may be some women who cannot access such amenities – women who have no choice but to shoulder their caregiving responsibilities. Therefore, it is equally important to offer flexible working conditions and acknowledge the diverse financial and social circumstances of women.
These considerations should be made by governments and the private sector, creating an inclusive corporate culture. One case that illustrates a positive development are the efforts taken by MAS Holdings to provide childcare services in several Strategic Business Units in Sri Lanka.
While economic policies are essential, they are not enough to change deeply ingrained cultural values and gender roles. Efforts to shift social norms and promote gender equality at home and in the workplace are crucial. This includes public awareness campaigns, education, and the promotion of shared household responsibilities. A recent attempt at this was made by the Government of Kerala, India which introduced gender neutral textbooks depicting both men and women doing care work.
Unpaid care work, predominantly shouldered by women, is the unsung backbone of our economy. Its invisibility in economic statistics masks its immense contribution and perpetuates gender inequalities. To achieve the full potential of women in the workforce and economic growth, recognising, valuing, and redistributing unpaid care work is essential.
By implementing policies that support caregiving, challenge gender norms, and invest in public infrastructure, we can create a society where women have equal opportunities to participate in the labour force without compromising their well-being or that of their families.
Ultimately, empowering women through the equitable sharing of care work is not just a social justice issue but an economic imperative as well.
Image by Julita
Leave a Reply