08. Adressing Unpaid Care Work
How does this Building Block manifest in the workplace and supply chain?
The responsibility for doing unpaid care work falls disproportionately on women and girls. Unpaid care work includes domestic work, such as cooking, cleaning and household administration and planning as well as care for other people, such as children, elderly people and sick people. Globally, women on average do more than three times the unpaid care work done by men. For women, taking on this unequal share of responsibilities results in chronic time deficits or time poverty, that limits their ability to participate in economic, political and social activities including opportunities for education, employment, entrepreneurship and participation in political and social life. In the workplace, this means women miss out on training and skill-building, career advancement opportunities, leadership opportunities or representation opportunities. In turn, this means that women become more economically and financially dependent, as they cannot spend enough time on formal employment to provide a livelihood for themselves and their families.
Additionally, it has also been reported that women face the psychological impact of long commutes more acutely than their male counterparts. This again ties in with how women experience the exhaustion from both their paid jobs as well as the care responsibilities they perform. Due to this women may even quit their jobs, deepening the gap in women’s economic empowerment and preventing them from becoming resilient. Even in cases where public transport exists to and from work, the transport may be erratic and/or unsafe. Further, this also ties with socio-cultural norms, where women are traditionally prevented from going out and the lack of reliable transport facilities only strengthens this systemic barrier.
How could your organization address unpaid care work?
Create a travel budget or transport for your employees or provide accommodation
Recognise and support employees with care responsibilities by shouldering some of the costs involved (for example subsidizing childcare costs, providing paid parental leave) or providing employees with a care budget
Supporting working patterns that are compatible with care responsibilities – such as flexible working hours, no mandatory overtime, maternity, paternity and care leave.
Providing infrastructural support, such as spaces for breastfeeding or pumping and creche facilities for children.
Create a supportive culture in which men feel empowered alongside women to take advantage of available policies and practices.
Include workers with care responsibilities in the formulation of workplace policy and in the design and evaluation of programs
Collaborate with firms providing care services – in elder care or childcare, for example – to offer employees access at affordable rates.
In the communities where you operate, collaborate with local governments, nonprofit organisations and neighbourhood groups to support the installation, operation and management of water, sanitation and energy infrastructure, with the representation and involvement of women and men in the areas impacted.
Ensure that community investment and economic development programs that receive corporate support are not unintentionally reinforcing binary gender norms at the household level.
Support the work of women’s rights and other civil society organisations as they call on governments to adopt policies to address unpaid care work and invest in adequate care-related infrastructure and services.
What questions can we ask within our organization and supply chain to address unpaid care work?
- Are there policies and procedures in place relating to employees and supply chain workers unpaid care?
- Are there any experiences that aren’t currently addressed by these policies and procedures?
- Are the policies and procedures easy to navigate for all employees and supply chain workers? Who might find it challenging?
- Are there any assumptions or biases that influence the policies and procedures?
