How Much Unpaid Domestic Labour (Mostly Done by Women) Is Actually Worth
And why it’s important that we talk about it
Mainstream economics and politics still largely ignore unpaid (and mostly female) domestic labour.
It’s not included in calculating GDP (even though several other forms of unpaid work are). It’s not visible in any other official figures. It’s often not included in social protection programs or taken into consideration in discussions about the challenges women face in paid employment.
To some, it’s not even ‘real’ work.
After all, powerful social norms still regard housework as part of ‘women’s duties,’ which must mean it’s pleasant, fulfilling and oh-so-easy! (Yet it’s not easy enough for men, as we so often hear.)
Although women increasingly participate in the labour market — in some countries, the gender employment gap almost doesn’t exist anymore — we continue to shoulder most of the responsibility for unpaid domestic and care labour. That’s the case even when both men and women work full-time. Even when women are the primary breadwinners. And even when men are… unemployed.
Women do it all, and we’re expected to continue doing it all without as much as an acknowledgement that, yes, this is work. And it can be…
