Unpaid work and the care economy

1
Unpaid work and the care economy

• How the Economist looks at Gender
• Patricia Alexander, Regional Gender Coordinator,
  UNDP Regional Centre for Asia the Pacific
• Beijing, 22-23 August

2
Why does the Economist look at gender?

• The role of this presentation is to help us
  understand
• The economic elements underlying gender
  inequality
• Why macroeconomics cannot be gender blind
• Measurement of unpaid work and the care economy

3
Outline

• Foundations of inequality
• Male bias in macroeconomics
• Correcting the bias
• Assumptions behind the models
• Measuring womens work the SNA
• The care economy

4
Outline

• Foundations of inequality
• Male bias in macroeconomics
• Correcting the bias
• Assumptions behind the models
• Measuring womens work the SNA
• The care economy

5
Gender is socially acquired, and not a biological
characteristic, BUT

• This social structure rests on economic
  foundations

6
For example, several Asian countries show son
preference

• Since Chinas 1982 Census, IMR for girls has not
  declined
• In rural areas, it has risen
• For girls, the rate rose from 39 per 1000 live
  births (1982) to 43 (2000)

7
The under-5 mortality rate is a powerful
indicator

• Under-five mortality better captures the effect
  of gender discrimination than infant mortality,
  as nutrition and medical interventions are more
  important in this age group (UNSD 2007)

8
Since the early 1980s (reforms), the sex ratio at
birth has been widening, against girls
9
Since the early 1980s (reforms), the sex ratio at
birth has been widening, against girls
10
What are the Economics underlying this phenomenon?

• The vast majority of new couples move to the
  mans village
• The newly married woman does not retain land
  rights in her natal village
• On divorce, she is forced off the land

• Despite equal rights laws, in practice, only sons
  retain land rights
• ? people believe
• Land property can only be protected by producing
  sons

11
Non-economic measures alone cannot change the
underlying economics

• However
• The system of family property and the political
  institutions for holding and transmitting land
  and property rights need to be more carefully
  examined

• Common measures
• Outlawing ultrasounds for sex-selective abortion
• Punishing infanticide
• Public campaigns about the danger of gender
  imbalance

12
Equal pay for equal work

• Although policy is clear in China and other
  countries, womens earnings are significantly
  below mens
• In addition to discrimination, many women cannot
  get equal qualifications

13
Equal pay for equal work

• Three out of four illiterate adults are women
  (female illiteracy is 2.6 times that of men)
• Home and farm responsibilities do not lessen when
  a woman takes on a job

14
The reproduction labour tax

• Food for the rural family, subsistence farming,
  water and fuel supply are the responsibility of
  women in traditional societies
• These duties must be discharged before a women
  can seek market work
• Women are bound to the household

15
The reproduction labour tax

• A CNN news item last week showed Olympic workers,
  who have steady work
• The income is helping to educate their children
• The women are running the farms

16
A high-paid construction job can be a road to a
better life

• But only if someone stays behind to manage care
  and farming

17
The care obligation functions in economics
exactly as a tax on womens wages

• It reduces womens job search time
• More women must work nearer home, at whatever
  jobs are available
• Women compete with each other in the low-wage
  sectors

18
The care obligation functions in economics
exactly as a tax on womens wages

• This reduces their bargaining power
• It lowers their reservation wage
• They must accept the wage offered
• and the conditions

19
Jobs in the high-paying industries are going
2-to-1 to men

• Those with little education are doing low-paid,
  often dangerous jobs

20
Outline

• Foundations of inequality
• Male bias in macroeconomics
• Correcting the bias
• Assumptions behind the models
• Measuring womens work the SNA
• The care economy

21
Macroeconomics is about the whole economy

• How can it have gender in it?

22
In macroeconomics, bias is not overt

• It is hidden in the assumptions
• Costs that are not included
• Time that is not costed
• Inputs that are ignored
• Social elements that create additional
  transactions costs
• Learn to look for hidden assumptions

23
When is it a bias

• When the assumption affects women and men
  differently, it is a gender bias
• . and the same for girls and boys
• Women may have to use more time
• Girls may drop out of school to take up tasks
• Some cases

24
In macroeconomics, bias is not overt

• It is hidden in the assumptions
• Costs that are not included
• Time that is not costed
• Inputs that are ignored
• Social elements that create additional
  transactions costs
• Learn to look for hidden assumptions