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Understanding Women’s
Contribution to Household Income
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Around the world women and men are brought up to
perform different tasks which differ according
to the society and the age they are living in.
Most societies (especially in the developing
countries) assume that within the household
there is a clear division of labour in which the
man of the family, as the “breadwinner”, is
primarily involved in “productive” work outside
home, while the woman as the housewife and
“homemaker” takes overall responsibility for the
“reproductive” activities (child-rearing,
domestic work, food preparation, health care,
education and community work) involved in the
organisation of the household. Most women, both
urban and rural, spend 15 – 20 hours a day on
their productive and reproductive activities but
only the “waged” work that women perform is
economically valued, whereas women carrying out
reproductive work are considered “inactive”.
According to the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) definition, the economically
active population includes persons engaged in
the production of goods and services for the
market as well as the processing of primary
products produced by the household. Women’s
contribution to household income 3 The
definition omits housework, child-rearing, and
other activities related to the production of
the labour force. Unpaid Work Most women’s
productive activities in subsistence
agriculture, in family enterprises and in the
home remain invisible in labor statistics and
national accounting. These “invisible” tasks
constitute economically necessary work, often
complementary to that of men, which are
unremunerated. If the unpaid invisible work by
women were fully taken into account in labour
statistics, their levels of economic activity
would increase from 10% to 20%. Global estimates
suggest that women’s unpaid work produces an
output of $11 trillion, compared to a global GDP
of about $23 trillion (UNDP 1995). The care work
done by women and girls in the household, which
includes the services associated with physical,
social and psychological development of family
members, as well as “volunteer” activities in
the community that keep the social fabric in
good order, is referred to in economics
literature as the “care economy” (Elson 2002).
These largely unpaid activities sustain
families, allow children to go to school, and
free the time of other household members to
generate income. Many of these economic
activities are unaccounted for in government
statistics and national income and product
accounts but because they help sustain
communities and nations, they can be thought of
as a public service in the production of public
goods (Folbre 1994a and b). Hazards of Unpaid
Work
• When women are spending their time on unpaid
work, they are not doing paid work. Because only
the latter is remunerated, women’s earning
potential decreases dramatically. Women’s
contribution to household income 4
• Because unpaid work is unpaid, many women must
try to fit in paid work around it creating
increasingly stressful lives.
• Because most unpaid work takes place at home,
women who do primarily unpaid work can be at
greater risk of physical, emotional, and/or
sexual abuse.
• Women who do many hours of care giving work
each week need support and need people who will
in turn care for them.
• And it needs to be understood that unpaid care
work in the household is not only women’s
responsibility.
This work can be shared in a more equitable
manner by men and women in the household
improving the quality of life for family members
so they can spend more quality leisure time
together when the work is done by both rather
than assumed by only women. Women’s contribution
to household income 5 Benefits of unpaid work
Despite the drawbacks, for many women unpaid
work that they undertake for their families in
the home can be rewarding and satisfying. Taking
time to raise one’s own children is an
experience many women do not want to pass up.
However, by the same token, it could be argued
that men, by not being more part of the care
work in the home, are missing out on the
benefits of enjoying taking care of their
families beyond being stuck in their expected
traditional roles as ‘breadwinners’ only. Syria
is no exception, Dr. Nadia Farah (FAO Gender
Consultant) reports that most women are
classified as economically inactive (90% of the
female population 15 years of age and above
versus 34.5% of males). While the inactivity of
males is mostly due to schooling, the inactivity
of females is mostly ascribed to their status as
homemakers.
Yet is it true that women’s reproductive
activities are financially unrewarding? A more
thorough look on the reproductive activities
that both urban and rural women perform will
help to “economically” appreciate women’s
“unwaged” activities. A- Women in the Urban
Areas The Syrian Labour law emphases on that
both women and men receive equal wages for equal
work. Yet, working women must juggle between the
demands of outside work and those of the
household. By doing so, she ends up...
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