Who is taking care of your family?
This phrase is often heard by many women who work outside the home, especially working mothers. It is often assumed that the roles of taking care of the house and doing house chores are the sole responsibility and function of women in the household. This is an example of gender roles perpetuated by the patriarchal value that has set societal norms and behavior deemed socially acceptable for individuals of a specific gender where it’s only normal when women are taking care of the household and men are working outside the home. It has created a power hierarchy that allows the function of men as the breadwinner of the family to have more power and dominance over women. In other words, the women’s role and function are perceived narrowly in the household instead of the contribution towards the economy.
In 2018, more than 60% of women who did not participate in the labour force cited housework, including child and elderly care, as the main reason for not seeking work.
Only less than 4% of men not involved in the labor market gave housework as their main reason. Women in the current workforce also raised that housework including family responsibilities hindered them from taking heavier responsibilities or leadership roles in the workplace.
To cope with care work, women opt for flexible jobs instead of formal employment. There has been a sharp increase in self-employment among women between the ages of 15-29 over the last six years based on the figures by the Department of Statistics Malaysia. While women who enter these occupations may value the greater flexibility they offer that enables them to cope with the double burden of caregiving and paid work, they are devoid of the social security and protection that comes with formal employment.
The gender expectation put on women to take care of their families has brought economic harm to women because they are faced with a lack of economic opportunity and autonomy. Therefore, women are often forced to accept lower pay and poor working conditions, becoming precarious workers with no guaranteed social security and protection.
Convention 190 calls for an end to violence and harassment against women including economic violence that cause economic harm to women. We must push the Malaysian government to ratify C190 to ensure the economic contribution of women works in all spheres to be acknowledged and all women workers and their rights are protected.
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Reference:
1. Breaking barriers: Toward better economic opportunities for women in Malaysia. ACHIM SCHMILLENMEI LING TAN|OCTOBER 28, 2019, World Bank Blogs https://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/breaking-barriers-toward-better-economic-opportunities-women-malaysia
2. July 21, 2020, Care Work in the Time of COVID-19: Women’s Unpaid Care Burden in Four Charts, Sri Ranjani Mukundan
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