On International
Women’s Day, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty
and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda, calls on States to ensure that unpaid
care is better valued, supported and shared – by men and by States:
“Women’s economic empowerment is a mirage if we don’t also take into account the unpaid work they are doing in the home. In most countries, women – especially those living in poverty - work longer hours than men when unpaid work is taken into account, yet they receive lower earnings and less recognition.
Heavy and unequal care responsibilities are a norm that is taken for granted and stand as a major barrier to gender equality, taking up women’s time and denying their equal enjoyment of the rights to education, decent work, health and participation in government, among others.
Unpaid care work such as cooking, cleaning and caring for children and the elderly entrenches women’s poverty and social exclusion when it is not socially recognized and shared. Care should be a social and collective responsibility for men and women and supported by the State, rather than falling entirely on women’s shoulders.
“Women’s economic empowerment is a mirage if we don’t also take into account the unpaid work they are doing in the home. In most countries, women – especially those living in poverty - work longer hours than men when unpaid work is taken into account, yet they receive lower earnings and less recognition.
Heavy and unequal care responsibilities are a norm that is taken for granted and stand as a major barrier to gender equality, taking up women’s time and denying their equal enjoyment of the rights to education, decent work, health and participation in government, among others.
Unpaid care work such as cooking, cleaning and caring for children and the elderly entrenches women’s poverty and social exclusion when it is not socially recognized and shared. Care should be a social and collective responsibility for men and women and supported by the State, rather than falling entirely on women’s shoulders.
