As per a study by Oxfam, the unpaid work done by women across the globe amounts to $10 trillion a year, which is equivalent to 43 times the annual income of the world’s biggest company, Apple.
Per Business Times, in India itself, the unpaid work done by women – which includes looking after children and household – amounts to 3.1% of the country’s GDP.
While women spend approximately 312 minutes and 291 minutes per day in urban and rural areas respectively on unpaid care work, men only spend 29 minutes and 32 minutes in urban and rural areas respectively.
As per TOI, the report was released right before the start of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
The report highlighted that women (of all ages) are the worst hit by the rise of economic inequality, and in India, inequality has a ‘female face’. In fact, the existing wage gap in India stands at 34%, and thus, when compared households where females are the sole earner are poorer.
The study also highlighted the prevalent practices of harassment against women in the workplace and when women are employed in unpaid work. Majority of women in the informal sector have no formal mechanism to report exploitative actions. In the case of unpaid work, the majority of men consider harshly criticizing women or beating them as a normal practice.
The report also highlighted that both social and economic factors hinder a woman from seeking paid work. Oxfam International Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said,
While corporations and the super-rich enjoy low tax bills, millions of girls are denied a decent education and women are dying for lack of maternity care.
An unfair division of labor affects women at a far greater scale than what is evident on the face of it. And it’s important that we not only realize the problem at hand but also work towards developing a practical solution for the same.
