EDITORIAL: Women burdened with care work

According to the International Labour organisation (ILO), finding solutions to care work is essential, if women are to have equal opportunities in the world of work. Finding solutions to care work however is a challenge faced by an increasing number of women entering or already in the workforce, as they seek to simultaneously fulfil their responsibilities in bearing and raising the next generation.

Now the ILO notes that care work is to be found in a variety of settings and across formal and informal economies. Indeed, some of this care is provided by the health services sector, most of which is formal and public. However, services for childcare, early childhood education, disability and long-term care, as well as elder care, are other areas comprising the care economy.

Additionally, it has been noted that societies around the world have taken for granted the huge volume of work that goes into keeping us all fed and watered, clothed and clean, healthy and happy. However, without care work, people’s health and children’s development would  suffer and our economies would not be able to function. Statistics suggest that one in five women who work, work in the paid care workforce, whether it is health care, or care of the elderly or disabled. There are so many more however who engage in loads of care work, in addition to their regular paid work.

At present, reports suggest that the COVID-19  pandemic has been the wake up call that women’s rights organisations have been calling for for decades, since it has been revealed just how fundamental care is to our societies, our economies and how unequally the responsibility of care has been shouldered. Some argue that this disproportionate responsibility for care work falls mainly on girls and women and it is limiting their ability to participate in the economy, in education and in public life.

Meanwhile, a call has been made for greater investment to be made in the care economy to ease the burden on women, who given the COVID-19 crisis, are now more than ever at the forefront of this economy caring for children and older adults. Last month, Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment in Barbados spoke to the issue, pointing out that investing in the care economy calls for reform and action across numerous sectors. For instance, Caddle has made it clear that whilst the government is looking at bringing on stream paternity leave so more fathers can help out in the household, she is also advocating for parental leave in general, to assist families on the whole in delivering the care they need, to their relatives.

Now this whole notion of “care work” must be viewed as very important, since we need people delivering good care to those who need it most. We however cannot leave the burden of care on women alone. We must find solutions that allow men to also share part of the load and there are many men who are willing to do so. Given that the pandemic has unearthed the challenges as it relates to how care work is viewed and the disproportionate way in which care work is distributed, now may be the time to act to see how best we can treat to the matter of the better distribution of care work, to allow our societies to better thrive.