ealthBridge - TNiencias Sreat Suto 1004 (Ouawa, ON Canada KIN 787 ‘win Heaitnerige.ce ie \BB Thst The Economic Contribution of Women in Bangladesh Through their Unpaid Labour‘The Economic Contribution of Women in Bangladesh Through their Unpaid Labour Analysis and report writing Debra Bfreymson, Julia Ahmed, and Shakila Ruma Editing Lori Jones WBB Trust - HealthBridge ‘PEcition: September 2007 204 Edition: February 2013 Dhaka, Bangladesh Research Save the Comal Pople (SCOP, Matas, ‘oung Power Sci Action (75), Shahid Nez St Sano (NSS), Bangladesh ineraied Community Development BICD) She uko Academy, Service of alping inland of Pe Agency (hips), PULSF,Chadpar Commanity Development Shangaine (CCDS) Reral Acting "Arargument Cerer (RAG) Karapara Ne Koan Shangsth (RNKS), rast Jobo Kalyan Shangsths, Gono Kalyan Kendra, YES Bangladesh, ACLAB, Siam, and Shangie Financial and technical support HealthBridge Canadian Intemational Development Agency (CIDA)‘Table of Contents Acknowledgments. 4 ‘Summary. Introduction [Background and rationale Purpose 2B ‘Methodology .. Results 28 Analysis Discussion . ‘Conclusion and recommendations... References Appendices. a Appendix I: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) “Appendix 2: List of taske regularly performed by women Appendix 3: Questionnaires Acknowledgements WBB Trust and HealthBridge would like to thank CIDA for its financial support to this research and. report, without witch this work would not have been. possible. We also would like to thank the eleven ‘organizations that helped us with the research, and all the researchers who worked hard to obtain quality information. We would particulary like to thank all, those who gave their valuable time to answer our research questions and contribute their ideas, especially Samia Afrin, Nasima Akhter Jolly, Tasmima Hossain, Rahana Akhtes, Shahinur Begum, Ranuara Begum, Mahiha Wadud Chadni, Israt Jahan Ema, Hemidul Islam Hillol, and Aparna Bala Lucky. We ‘would also like to thank all these who helped us with, this report, including Saifuddin Ahmed, Dipankar Goutam, Syed Mahbubul Alam, Aminul Islam Sujon, Geous Pearee Mukti, Maruf Rahman, Syeda Anonna ‘Rahman, and Najnin Kabir Note This is an updated version of the original (2007) report The statistical values of various tasks have been revised, as has the total figure for womens contribution. This version also contains a revised methodology section, additional information from focus group discussions, and a more detailed background discussion. Summary This report prosonte background information and research resulis from a research study on thecontribution of women to their local and national ‘economics through their unpaid work. The purpose of the research was to obtain an approximate figure of the economic value of the daily work performed by ‘women in Bangladesh, work consisting of household tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and caring for others, for which thoy reccive no pay. Tho rescarch included a survey and in-depth interviews with women and men, which aimed to understand more about women’s ‘unpaid work and the daily regimen of ther lives. Two follow-up focus group discussions were conducted to inform this updated report ‘The research results demonstrate that women typically work 16 hours each day, that most women have no leisure time, and that women bear most of the responsibility for household chores, including the ‘many tasks related to income generation. Most women, ‘even if they have a servant, do their own cooking, and. they typically also tutor their children and help them with school work. Rural women pecform a. wider variety of tasks compared to urban women. While both ‘men and women recognize that women’s household activities constitute important work, they do not grasp the full extent of its economic value: the value of unpaid household work performed by housewives ranges from US$228 to US$259 billion per year, depending on the specific economic value assigned to each of the tasks that women perform daily. That is. ‘women’ contribution to the Bangladesh economy overshadows its GDF, which in 2012 was estimated to bbe USB1187 billion. What various women’s leaders in Bangladesh have to say about ths report (quotes transiated from Bengali): Without women's contribution. the Bangladesh ‘economy would collapse This research on the economic conitibution of women through their domestic work will ploy an important par in the women’s rights movement in this country. The research brings to light the work that happens in al homes but which is typically ignored. People ossume that women wil, any out these tasts, ond the vave gains no atenton. Ine research brings fo light the amount of time that women work in the home and the faconomic value of that work. It shows that al the. hourehele werk carried out by women is even more valuable than formal work. As o result, the: Social viewpont of women should change ond decision mokers will recognize the importance of women’s domestic work fo the whole economy, The report also highlights the fect that the were women do in the home represents c contribution Not [ust Io that home and fomily but fo the enlire nation. The economy o! the entire nation is dependent on the contribution of women. ~Ferida Athler, Executive Director, Ubinia and Coordincter, Women's AntiTobacco AllianceHousehold work is typicaly considered the rosponsibilty of women. Thoso whe are paid to cary out howsework are paid very iile, because People do not give economic importance to household work. Househeld work occupies many hours in a woman's day. yet the woxkis ignored or considered unimportant due to patriarchal ctitudes, Men think that itis women's responsibilty to help men, to do housework, 19 1ase children, 10 ‘take core of the sick, and so on. Even women wilh jobs outside the home typically must sil do the housework. Due to the lack oF acknowledgement by families and societies of the value of the work, even women themselves offen beleve that the ‘work has no value, Asc rasull, our vision of an ‘equitable sociely is impossible to bring to realty. In many countries, oction hos been taken to bring to. ‘attention the Important contribution of women through their household work. For instance in Cuba, Fidel Costto passed a law tat men must Contribute to household work. We need to take ‘action to work for a society in which the work of both mon and women & rospocted and we nood to change ou: own olfitudes so that we can ‘achieve @ more equitable sociely. Khushi Kabi, Coordinator, Niera Kori itis ime to recogrize the contiibution of women's household work fa the national economy, The ‘oxclusion of women's work from caleviations of GDF is not acceptable. In addition to women's ‘agricutural work, tneir work collecting water ond ‘uel and taking care of home and farrily must be tecegnized. It is important to estimote the full ‘oxtont of women's economic contribution to the: nation. The time for this research has come. The time has come to include women's household work in GDP. “Advocate Torana Halim. MP. The research conducted by WB Trust on the ‘economic contribution of women through their ‘domestic work is oF great importance for our work. fon gender issues. Although many have talked about the importance of acknowledging women's household work, we did not hove tho: research fo show ils value. In many counties, ths. type of research is gaining much attention, Jeacing to new laws and poicies. In discussions of this year's budgat in Bangladesh. the Minister of Finance stated in Paaflament thal we need to give value to women's housshold work. Through ths research, we can add Ihe voice of Bangladesh 10 intemational eiforts to rake the status of women. “Nosema Akhtar Jol, Secretory, National GirlChid Advocacy ForumIntroduction In Bangindesh, as elsewhere, because they most often urn the income that houses, feeds, and clothes ther femiles, men ore considered tobe nt only dhe head of the family but is most important member. Work is typically divided along gender res, with men being responsible Yor “outside” ~ meaning income eaming = ‘work and women for housework and childcare, Tas ‘while men com an income, the remaining family members ~ usually women and children ~ are economically dependent. Women often have no choice bt to live in this dependent condition, given their relatively lower educational: levels and fewer rrarketable skis, the resultant lack of employment ‘opportunities, and low socal acceptance of women earning a living outside their homes. Nevertheless, in the poorest ‘amilies, women often have no choice but to find paid work Meanwhile, even those women who have paid jobs continae to be responsible. for Fouschold work withits many time-consuming tasks ‘Women also perform other labour within their homes, be it paid or unpaid, such as taking in piece work or assisting with family productive acilvities, such as farm ‘work, running a family business, etc. Where such work is done to support a family business and the women is rot paid, she is typically considered to be a helper, rot fan actual worker, no matter how great her contribution to the family’s welfere Since women carry out housework and childcare in their own hemos without pay,” their work is ften considered to have no monetary value. There ie also a perception that women innately “know” how 10 cook, ‘lean, raise children, and manage a household. People do not feel that such tasks require skis or talents to perform, nor do people generally recognize that ‘women work hard to acquire thoce skills over 2 period, of years from their mothers and/or other female relatives as young girls. Rather, the work of caring for home and ‘amily is considered to be trivial, unskilled ‘work, This attitude towards womer’s unpaid work Dolitles women’s status in the family, cocety, and the ration. This report addresses these issues and offers suggestions for remedying some of the problems caused by the lack of importance given to the contributions women make to the family and to society through their unpaid work. It also recognizes that ‘nereasing the perceived value of women's unpaid ‘work may do much to increase the overall perceived value of women themselves in their own societies. “Ofcourse, such wor typically emaneated when is contacedout ‘o.omeone ivngousice he home. We ae rot suerte at thee {tte thal Be paid when conducted by womes i teow ome Sotratier tt te alco ch work so be een snd snow, oBackground and rationale ‘Many important decisions about resource allocation are based on economic calculations. However, if there ‘are significant problems with those economic ‘aleulations, the basis for the decision-making must also be called into question. For example, there is. a deep and generally ignored problem with all national economic calculations of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the most widely-used measure of national ‘wellbeing The guidelines used internationally to caloulate GDP—the United Nations System of National ‘Accounts (UNSNA)—contains many biases that, whether debberately or not, reault in the exclusion of _most work done by women around the world.” By the UNSNA guidelines, women’s labour is generally ‘only included in national accounts if it takes place in the Formal, paid workforce, be tin a factory, on a farm, fr in an office. Ifa woman works but is not paid, then her lebour does not count for anything in terms of rational measurements of wealth. According to the a scm ae ay oo May WB Pomer © There are cual sever protien with ealalaon of GDP, suchas ‘te chr tls horse envroementand rata uc, ahd ‘Shc ts eed per xpi, do ot ast teiween cours ‘uh ialy equ aioe of avr tod Se wi song dpi ‘Anongater Amartya Senbas repel pointed ett is alow ‘erent nea mosatgansndrotan anise pepe. however, facises on women's ies, ther than ona hood ‘nigse of GD. ‘ing, Masi. Women Cota Now Fane Romani HisperanFrnesee: 1998 " 1953 UNSNA definition, production totals include “all primary production, whother exchanged of not”. If a ‘man grows vegetables for sole as his primary. ‘occupation, then those vegetables are registered as part ‘of national wealth, even those that are consumed at his home rather than sold on the market. Since most men have one main job, their labour is thus counted oven if they are not engaged with the market economy. But if a woman grows vegetables for home consumption, they do not count unless she is growing them as her primary occupation, which all too often is not the case, It is very difficult for most women to explain exactly ‘which of thoir many jobs’ (raising children, taking care of the house, doing farm work, helping their husband. with other income-generating work, and so an) is their primary occupation. Once a woman becomes a mathe, and in fact usually prior to this, she has so many ‘occupations that it is impossible to label any one 96 “primary.” But since national statistics are arranged 20 a5 to Ignore ‘non-primary’ occupations, women's many contributions are essentially eliminated from consideration. If a woman states that her primary ‘occupation is housework, then she is not considered 19 ‘be contributing to the economy. Most types of agcicultucal work are included in the UNSNA. Some actwvities, however, are specifically excluded, including carrying water, weeding, collecting firewood. subsistence crop production, and housework. Tet coincidence, asks Waring, that these are specifically the activities most likely to be carried outby women? 2‘The fact that housework is specifically excluded from the UNSNA suggosis that tho work conducted by housewives" is not considered to have economic valve, ‘Yet housewives’ activities include food. processing, food preparation, care of family members, care of clothing, shopping, household management, and maintenance of accotints “is likely that our fellure to assign a price forthe services of the homemaker has fended to convey the mpreion ht hey are vein rather han orien “economists Marianne Ferber and Bonnie Bimbaum (Wering 1998) ‘Clean clothes, 2 dean home, and meals are essential to ‘those earning an income, a8 well as to everyone else in society. Though it may receive little or no financial or ‘her recognition it is also important to have someone who takes care of children, the elderly, and the sick. ‘Women’ contributions are undoubtedly essential to the home and thus to society, yot they are assigned no ‘economic value. Meanwhile, a man siting behind desk pushing papers, or selling a harmful product, or pedalling war, is considered to be making an economic contribution that must be counted. According to the ccurzent system, Waring observes, drug dealors, pimps, ‘and arms dealers make an economic contribution to society; a woman staying home to take care of her children and elderly relatives does not. Imagine the kind of society that we create when we prioritize useless or harmful economic activity over social activity. Perhaps this helps to explain the heavy burden faced by working families who struggle to earn fan income and take care of family members. After all B ‘with only income earning valued by society, tle or no assistance is offered for othor duties; the difficulties faced by ferilice which receive little or no support from employers or the State to balance work and family responsibilities is well-documented.” Meanwhile, itis also informative to look at the Food and Agriculture Organization's definition of a lancholder’ According to the FAO, the holder is not the person who does the work on the land, but rather ‘he person who makos the decisions, even if s/he never sets foot on the land. It is the holder who will be interviewed in each census. As the FAO explains, “For example, if the wif of the head ofthe household omits to weed the maize on a piece of land for wich she appears to be taking operaticnad responsibilty ‘he head may instruct her to doco, In ouch a case it © the head of the household who i the holder.” Simply put, the UNSNA virtually guarantees, by mandating that most interviews be with heads of household and by excluding most work done by ‘women, that women will be excluded from national measures of wealth. Rangladesh is not free from this negative definitional approach. Under the 1961 census, women's work was defined es ‘productive econamic activity’ By the 1974 «See eno Heymtn wd Ben 015 nd Hen 2005, sift let ial pepe tae GUE ens POs vingecetodar bets anus wet Seng {pcre nel ti cnsing aang eae sc Wise pul heirs alt pense sutng ise poral Bed «‘census, that had changed: women's wark was defined. at ‘housewife.’ This was clearly not because Bangladeshi women sudderly changed their activities, Dut because of a change in how their work was defined. For example, in Bangladesh, crop storage, which is done by men, counts as economic activity, while food Processing, carried out by women, does not count, despite the lack of any justification for this difference. ‘When men were interviewed in Bangladesh about the ‘work carried out by the women in their households, they responded that “they cook and sew quilts.” When ‘women were asked, they indicated that they raise chickens, grow vegetables, process rio, and so on. That is, when only men were interviewed for the census—as isnormally the case—they were likely to understate the extent and value of women’s economic contributions. ‘The Bangladesh Labour Force Survey of 2010 gives a figure of 17.2 million “economically productive” ‘women and 16.2 milli “employed” women. This ‘excludes roughly 35 million women (aged 15-64), again implying that household work has no productive or ‘economic value (although the same tasks are given an economic value if they’ performed by non-household ‘members for pay). [azul Islam cites an estimate by the Bangladesh Home ‘Workers Women Association (BHWA) that the annual contribution of home-based workers to the GDP is about Tk 150 billion (USS2.59 billion’). “But ‘unfortunately, this contribution is not reflected in the ° Usingan exchange rate or 2002.03 0f 3790‘ oh USS (Gocition in oe exchange abe eur he, 1s government statistics. The BBS [Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics) data shows that the contribution of the industrial sector in GDP in FY 2002-(3 was Tk 462.37 Dillion (US$7.99 billion). Of the amount, the contribution of large-scale industry was Tk 325.58 billion (US85.62 billion), while small scale contributed ‘Tk 13680 billion (US§2.%6 billion). Tho statistics show ‘hat the contribution of home-based workers ie larger than that ofthe small-scale industry.”” Shamim Hamid found that the average woman in Bangladesh contributes 4765 taka (US8133.14') amualy tothe economy through her unpaid work. of which 3% is from subsistence production and the remaining 95% [sic} from housework. For men, the figure is 219 taka (0586.12), 29% from own-account subsistence production and 71% from housework. Nationally, Hamid ealelated that, on an annual basis, ore than 188 billion taka (USS5.25 billicn) worth of ‘work, uncounted in national statistics, is contributed thyough anal subsistence production, of which 35% 1s contributed by women and the remaining 5% by men. Hamid further estimated that Bangladesh's GDP jn 1989/60, calculated st 638 billion taka (USH17.83 billion), would increose by 29% t 825 billion taka (0382305 billion) if unpaid work were included. = team, Nal "Espoo of eomeste workers” in The aly Sa, December (pwr had tr ne 200612286122115021 658) "Wing exchange ate athe ine of 3579 tat the USS 6Similarly, Hamid calculated that the percentage of rational production attributed to women would icanty, from 25% to 41%, if unpaid work ‘were included in the national economy. Meanwhile, the proportion contributed by men would fall from 75% to 59%, Further fincings by Hamid include: © Conventional GDP estimates capture 88% of men’s production but only 47% of women’s production. ‘© Under the present UNSNA production boundary definitions, 95% of non-market production is exduded. © Of the total time epent on work in rural areas, women contribute 53% and men 47%, ‘© Of the total time spent on non-market work, ‘women contribute 89% and men 11%.” Ina study of the contribution of Bangladeshi women to rational income, Homayra Ahmed locked also at the value of women's housework, Ahmed raises the Importance of putting a value on women’s household, ‘work and points out that the work women perform, with loving care has more value than that done by strangers for pay, but does not make an estimate of its economic value.” ° Hai Shami. iy Homen Coun, Esse on Wamor It Development se Bonglacest Dba! Univers Ps Lied, 986, Aimed, Monaye “Woes onto ail none: Ranges rwcetve” Raley Sta, Vol 28, 201218180, ” In Canada, the US, New Zealand, and other countries, the issue of womer’s economic contribution through their unpaid work has been raised by scholars, activists, and others.”” As a result, researchers have devoted some attention to the issue, and investigated the scale and estimated value of women’s unpaid work, particularly in the domestic sphere. The United Nations’ Intemational Labor Organization (ILO) has. also recommended that such research and estimations be carried out, a recommendation corroborated by the Government of Bangladesh in its Poverty Reduction, Strategy Paper (PRSP) (see Appendix 1). Little effort has yet been made to put these recommendations into practice. Where efforts have been made, though, the bstimated contribution by women is substantial ‘An online survey conducted by Salary.com (a Massachusetts, USA-based firm) found that mothers’ unpaid work if paid at the rate of similar work conducted for pay, would give the average mother an annual salary of US$134,121—the equivalent of the salary ofa top ad executive, marketing diroctoy, or judge, Women working outside the home would earn 2 further (0885,876 on top of her actual wages for her housework, The calculations were made based on the ten Key hhousehold-related jobs that women perform, and their equivalent market wages if carried out by someone hired from cutside the femily. The study also found that employed mothers work on average 44 hours a week at their outside job, and a further 49.8 hours at home, while slay athome mothers work 91.6 hours a week, «See frctamps, Gender & War Duta Base (utpsewngenetvorka) and Medes we Ware, {htp."wwinearevomon com); Warng isbeeetan somosstant {ener Mero armen in Now Zea 1Internationally. UNPAC (UN Platform for Action Committee Manitoba) estimates that the total value of unpaid work, most of which is performed by women, in the global economy is USS11 tilion.” In 2006, the HealthBridge Foundation of Canada supported a series of research studies that explored the ‘economic contribution of women through their unpaid Inousehold work in five countries: Bangladesh, India, ‘Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam, While the study results varied depending on the way in which women’s contribution was assigned a monetary valve, in all ceases it was clear that women work long days performing socially beneficial tasks. The studies found, that women in India work from 5 a.m. until at least 10 Pam,, making an annual contribution to the Indian economy of approximately US$612.8 billion, or 61% of GDP. Nepali women reported working between 9.7 (urban) and 13.2 hours (raral) each day on household tasks; GDP in Nepal would nearly double if the contribution of women’s unpaid household work were included. In Pakistan, both urban and rural women perform a wide variety of tasks, typically working 16 hours each day, thereby contributing US§37.55 billion or 233% of the annual GDP. Vietnamese women. reported doing more than 5 hours of household work per day, often on top of full-time paid jobs. If women’s ‘unpaid household work were included, GDP would, rise from USS89.8 tillion to an estimated $1359 billion, an increase of 66%. "= UNPAG, Women ant te Heeoomy uptempo ed hawneabbde cabarets hlAGendePbiatins 1s We are aware of no prior research that has calculated an economic value for tho time spent on housowork by fulltime and part-time housewives in Bangladesh, Other research in Bangladesh on causes of vielence against women has found, though, that “since women. "usually did not hold a paying job and inherited little or ‘no land, they wore considered weak and worthless Men felt that since they eamed a living, wemen should always be subservient to them.” Calculating and acknowledging the economic value of women’s unpaid. work could thus contribute to efforts to prevent violence against women, Reflections on the natare of work “What [do all day Ton epard as work Tegard as -yy duty” (FD participant) “For me work brings money, We do not get money from household work." (RGD partiipan’) For many people, the word “work” means a paid aciivity that one has to do in order to earn a living. It also typically suggests something formal: a workplace outside the home, where one works @ certain number of hours or performs a certain number of tasks in exchange for a wage or salary. Importantly the usual assumption is that work means paid work. But if work is defined only in terms of paid Work, then a large portion of the working population, cdi ie Tac at oe Prom oC Ry Soe eer fe Som hgh and Veto Reihieage a) »and a large amount of their daily work, are ignored: that is, household or domestic work. Yot that work is of vital importance, enebling as it does other paid (and. socalled productive) work. ‘Work is also a form of Klentty: Ia getting to know each ‘ther, people commonly ask “what do you da?” Work in that sense can involve a sense of pride and of self- efinition. A belief persists that women without formal femployment do not work. Thus one may ask the mother ‘of anewborn: "Have you gone back to work?” Raising an infant surely involves much joy, but it is also clearly difficult and valuable work. For those without a formal job, saying “I don't work” suggests that they are not {important people that they make no contribution ‘o their family o¢ to society, despite the value of what they do, Just as work is not necessarily performed for pay, so a paid jcb docs mot necessarily connote a useful contribution to society. In fact, much volunteer and hhousehold work may prove to be far more socially useful than many paid jobs. Brush economist Paul Ekins writes that, “The paradox here is that many of the higherstatus, typically ‘masculine employments in factories, offices and other institutional places of work have served na direcily necessary purpose, by contrast with typically feminine forms of unpaid activity in the houschold: bearing children, providing food, providing dashing, caring for the old and the sick, educating young children, and looking after the home.” sing, Pal, Ba, The Living Econom A Mew Reon i the aking Roa abd Kain a 985, a “Before came to this family my mothernvlaw was alone, there was noone fo talk: to ber. Now, Tam giving ‘ume to my motherdclaw, I talk to her Lstitch sew, 1 think whatever Ido for our sake 8 work” (FGD participant) In fact, many of the most vital jobs, including. household work and farming, are unpaid or underpaid, while jobs that have little significance for improving people's wellbeing, such as trading junk bonds or selling weapons, pay remarkably well. Do we really value star athletes more than school teachers? Do we consider the work of advertising executives to be more important than that of socal workers? One could argue that there are fewer star athletes than good teachers, but truly good teachers are also a rare and highly valuable commedity. How important to our daily existence are workers, such as those who collect the trash and drive the bas, as opposed to many of the highly-psid professions? Clearly the discrepancy in wages has something to do With the fact that those setting wages are typically educated and thus see no problem justifying high wages based on education levels. Whether a job pays well or poorly is typicelly due to the bargaining power of the workers. Managers and top exceatives of giant corporations are in a Position to award themselves a high salary, and thus do so. This, however, bears no relation whatsoever to their social productivity or even to how well the company they run is doing. For those with litle o no bargaining power, low wages are a realty, It is Important to remember that many of the 2tasks which are essential to our existence and our civilization, such a8 cooking, cleaning, farming, and looking after people, ae underpaid. To suggest that the pay levels reflect the importance of the work is clearly absurd when we consider whether or not we could do ‘without those employments, It is also important to remember that since most ‘women are already economically active, giving them extra income-caming opportunities may also mean increasing their burden. For example, a silkworm raising project in Vietnam was successful at raising ‘women’s income, and the women first expressed pleasure at this result But upon further review, it became clear just how much additional work was being placed on them. Already the firs to rise and the last t0 0 to bed at night, women had to get up every few hours to feed the silkworms, so that they could never enjoy an uninterrupted night's sleep. Some of the ‘women said they would prefer to forego the additional income in return for having a decent night’ sleep. Purpose ‘This research attempted to fill an identified gap in knowledge about the economic value of women's time spent on houschold-related activities in Bangladesh, and to contribute directly ta further advocacy work ‘that earphasizes the important role played by women in the Bangledeshi society and economy. In thls regard, it is important both to raise the attention of policymakers to women's contribution and to increase the knowledge of both male and female members in B the general public about the economic contributions ‘that women make through their unpaid work. The purpose of this research was thus to assess the contributions that women make to the country through, their unpaid work This was done by identifying and quantifying the work that women do and the amount of time that they spend on it, and estimating the economic value Of that work. ‘It is hoped that the research results will contribuie to an increased understanding by policymakers and the general public ‘of the economic contribution that women make through their unpaid work, and, rolatedly, t9 increase women's selfesicem and value by demonstrating the extent of their work and contribution to society. Why is it important to understand the value of ‘womer’s unpaid work? Among other reasons, because: ‘¢ If women’s work is given an economic value, then women thomselves aro likely to gain soll esteem and to have a more positive atlitude ‘about their work, themselves, and their role in ‘society Whea men fesl that women make no valuable contribution to their houschold—that women arc, essentially, useless creatures who are a net loss in tezms of the money that is needed to feed, clothe, and shelter ‘them-—then its easier for men to mistreat women. That isin the same way that people generally will kick a dog ‘but nota cow, because the former hag no economic value while the later does, 0 the perception that women make ‘no economic contribution may be one underlying factor in men’s violence against women. This assumption is further supported by previous research in Bangladesh, ™Which demonstrates that both sexes trivialize women’s work. While women realized their work was important to the family, they did not perceive that it had any ‘economic value, and both men and women assumed that Women would take full responsibility for household, work. Most importantly, both sexes found it accepiable to be vialent to women if women “failed” in their duties, ‘particularly in getting meals ready on time. Thus rather than helping relieve women’s burden or at lesst sympathize with it, men responded with violence —and women typically accepted that respanse.° ‘In terms of both society and government, if women’ work i given value, men will gain a better understanding of women’s value and, importance, and will be likely to treat them. with more respect. It will thus be easier to ‘create happier, mutually respectful, violence- free families. © As described above, govemments tend to ‘underestimate the value of women’s unpaid work, ‘eccuding most women’s work from GDP and other measures of national wealth, AS a rest, women ‘eppesr to be a net drain othe economy, rather than, being seen as an important contributor to other feconemic activities. Smaller salaries are paid to ‘men than would be possible if men in tum had to ‘pay women forall the domestic work that they do. Tn that sense, women coald be seen as subsidizing. mens salaries, by contsibuting their domestic work for free rather than demanding ¢ wage. “Byam i in Pica Ln ane Promig Frm begish hai xd mn ekg a 006 25 Methodology This research utilized both quantitative and qualitative methods, consisting of in-depth interviews (IDIs) and surveys (Goo Appendix 3 for the survey form and IDI questions), The surveys were conducted through urposive sampling to include people of different lasses, occupations, end age groups. A total of 315, women and 315 men, all of whom were married (though not necessarily to other respondents), were interviewed. In addition, in-depth interviews were ‘conducted with §5 married women and 55 married ‘men (not married 10 each other). The research was coordinated by WBB Trust and conducted by trained, researchers working for eleven NGOs in ten different areas of the country. In order to gain an understanding, fof the nature of women’s work in both rural and arban areas, given oxpectod large differences betwwoen them, doth tral and urben ares were included, with five NGOs collecting data in urben areas and six collecting, data in rural areas, ‘The inital research was conducted between 10 and 25 February 2006, SPSS software was used for data analysis, Supplemental research was conducted in 2012. One focus group discussion was organized at the WB office in Dhaka on 15 October 2012 with ten wornen, from different social clastes, A second focus group iscussion was held on § December 2012 in Tongi Geripure’? with twelve women of different sociel classes. In addition, eight middle class women and. "semis rani frm ak 26eight high class women, from eight different ‘geographical areas of Dhaka (one middle class and one Ihigh class women from each area), were interviewed to collec: wege information (what weges they pay to ‘others for Various household tasks). The women were ‘purposely selected to represent their respective social classes. Finally, thirteen WBS network partners from seven different areas of the country responded to a ‘questionnaire that was designed to collect local information about wages paid to non-houscholders for various tasks that are typically performed wage-free by housewives in their own homes. The areas surveyed were Barisal, Brahmanbaria, Jessore, Jhenaidah, ‘Khulna, Munshiganj, and Tangail ‘Several limitations of the research are noted, induding the fact that, given the enormity of the issue being studied, the research should have taken place over a longer time period and involved a larger sample. Due to various financial and time consirainis, we were not able to conduct a more comprehensive study. Further, although WBB trained the researchers, we were rot lable to go to the field and directly monitor the quality (of the information that was collected. During the 2012 research component, the information collected from ‘outside Dhaka proved to be extremely unreliable (missing data fields and significant variation in data) and thus could not be used for the analysis, ‘There are also some activities in which wornen engage that are not suitable for economic analysis, such as mother’s affection, love, breasticeding, the felings that n accompany care of the sick, etc. It is by nature impossible to assign sn economic value to such activities, and any attempt to do so would undervalue the genuine contsibution that women make through them. Furthermore, we do not believe that it is only those activities that come with a price tag that have value; in some senso, assigning an economic value work can actually belittle it, However, as mentioned above, by assigning no value at all, women's work is seen to be valueless rather than invaluable. Thus while avoiding the absurd exercise of assigning an economic value to women’s love and care, we attempted to calculate fair market rates for other tasks typically performed by women in order to gain approximate figures of women’s economic contribution 10 their families, to society and to the country. Resulte!® Suraey results There were one to five household members (husband, ‘wife, and children) in most ofthe interviewed families, indicating that most people lived in nuclear families. In nuclear families, the losd on women is greeter, whereas in entenced families, there are more women available to help with the workload. This is particularly true ‘where families cannot afford to hire household help. Not all men and women interviewed were husband- pairs. Nevertheless, the difference in age seen ‘between the male and female sespondents was likely ‘The tka and ecuvalent Gla amounts wold be much hein 012 =due to the fact that women in Bangladesh typically marry at a younger age than do men. Thus while 47%. Table. Income ofthe respendonts Foe ee een =, z Sees aen caeed ong cor} 2 about ten years (Table 1) 500-1,006) [138 18% oe, tee 1 ona eee = " pe |e 2 - sone tte te ee ao eee spore te tee te ee me ees a ae Z. 25% # ee "13,000-15,000, 1 03% s 1.6% a vosaee {ee Pte Monin vinings opening pa ere eee pe es eee eee society means that men dominate the working world and often resist the idea of women entering the paid labour force. It is also typically expected that women wil] assume the full burden of housework and childcare. As shown in Table 2. most women (77%) ‘earned only 0.500 taka (US§07.14") per month, while ‘most men (28%) earned 3,000-5,000 take (USS542.56- 71.49) per month. No woman earned more than 15,000 ‘taka (US8214.29) a month in this study, but men earned ‘up to 25 000 takalmonth (USS357.14). "Raed onan approxi eachangerat abe ine ofthe resetc of ‘tbunledest othe USS 29 Im terms of schoo! enrolment, intorestingly, more girls ‘than boys had enrolled in primary school (Figure 1), and more men (14%) then women (7) were illiterate. Women had higher school enroiment levels through hhigh school but after class 11, women's enrolment was lower than men: 79% of women and 56% finished Level 10, but 18% of women and 30% of men finished higher- level education. Figure 1, Educational level of respondents xe [sores] a» 0Families may have seen litle benefit to continsing {rl education, ak gk would be unlikely to find a cent jb, and wore ikely to marry moaring tat their tarnings would ict bene their parents. 2s soon a8 Birls ceased going t0 school, ther felis often Arranged for their mariages. Even for girs with high ambitions, it was very difficult to find a decent job, so they were forced to acept household work 28 their sole oman occupation ‘The reason for higher illiteracy rales among men may be that from a far earlier age, boys are seen by their families as an economic asset and are sent to work rather than to school. Meanwhile, for those boys who stay in school, families perceive that the longer they slay in school, the greater the likelihood that they will find highes-paying employment when they graduate. Since women attain only relatively low levels of education, they are not qualified for higher-level jobs. They are restricted both by familial and societal ‘expectations that prevent them fom reaching a higher level in education or employment. As shown in Figure 2, while 81% of women were involved only in housework (no paid employment) only 1.3% of men ‘were unemployed. While 10% of women had formal paid employment, 22% of men did. The rest of the men ‘were involved in various forme of more informal (meaning not wagebesed) work, such as business (24%), rickshaw oF rickshaw van pulling (9%), and farming (8%). a Figure 2 Involvement of mo ‘housework and employment Heewort Formal inbrmal [As shown below in Table 3, almost all participating men (95%) and women (93%) said that the head of thoir household was male. That is, men, whether by earring, an income or simply by being male, were perceived (2 be the de facto household heads. (In this sample, 96% of the 315 women, and 99% of the men, were married, Among the remaining women, 2.9% were widows, 0.6% wore coparated, and 03% wore divercod.) Tablo3. Stated hoad ofthe fanly Head Fomaie Male Ne % Re, %, ‘Owe 2 | aen | 8 ‘Spouse_| 262 | 82.76 3 78% ‘Others | 11 | 2% 2 38% Total 315 100% 1315 | “109% Bangladeshi women typically work very long days. Most women (54%) and men (57%) reported that women worked 1620 hours a day. Given that they likely take at least one hour per day for personal care and activities (praying, bathing, etc), these women only sleep 6 hours or less each night. From the time that they wake up in the morning until they go tosleepat night, women are involved in a wide range of household activities (see Appendix 2). There are 43.3, million full-time housewives in Bangledesh” working about 16 hours a day on average; full-time housewives throughout the country therefore work a total of 692.8 million hours each day. Employed women, if they spend a daily avorage of 8 hours on housework, contribute a further 784 million hours, for a total of 771.2 million hours. igure 3. Time (nour per day} women ana mon ‘sy that women spene dally In Rovsenota werk ‘Women often engage in more than one activity at a time; for instance, they may hold or feed a baby while cooking, comfort a crying baby while helping another child with housework. or fend to the sick while clesning the house. each separate activity were taken into account, then women’s working hours would expand considerably. It is interesting to note that there was very little dliscrepancy found in the time spent on household, ‘work, oF the exact activities constituting “housework, in different parts of the country. The main difference Hanglaeth Ruma of Sites (RES), 2004 Sasol Youre of ‘Bangladesh Dida Doser 205, 3 was between urban and rural areas, with razal women. being engaged in a wider variety of tasks than urban. women (g00 list in Appendix 2). Women commonly perform a total of 45 different tasks, though it is ‘ilficult sometimes to determine what constitutes a separate task (eg caring for clothes includes washing, hanging them out to dry, folding them and putting them away; cooking requires extensive preparation, and 30 0a). However, urban women in different cities, and rural women in different parts of the country, engaged in similar tasks, and women everywhere spent a large amount of time on housework, regardless of whether they also had a paying job. Finally, the fact that men’s opinions of the hours worked by women are similar to women's responses is, significant. The research suggests that men are atleast aware that women work a long day. AAs is shown in Figure 4, just over half of the women. (54%) and slightly more men (8%) reported that men help women with housework However, given the heavy daily burden of household work, the fact that almest half of the women and men acknowledged that tmen did not help ot all suggests « strongly unequal division of labour atthe household level Figure 4 Whether men help women with household work oo 40 % Es ° Yor Not endedDespite the apparently low worth given to women, when asked whether women’s work is important, most ‘women (63%) and men (849%), responded that it is important (Figure 5). A major eavoat about this result is noteworthy, though: the importance of women’s work was the last question asked, after a Tong set of se soe Ge many il pcan Findings ‘of other resetrch suggest. that men consistently undervalue women’s Work" Results of in-depth Interviews During the in-depth interviews, women talked about their uso of leisure time, tho tasks that they and their raids performed” and what they might be worth, and. other issues. ‘As seen in Table 4, Most women (75%) reported getting up very exrly in the morning—typically between 4:30 and 630 am, and going to bed betwoen 9 and It pum.. ‘Almost 19% reported going to bed between I pam. and 12 am, and a further 7% between 12 and 1am. Table 4. Time respondents get up Inthe morning and goto ‘bed at night weer ng ant ge nage [Ra | —T epig tine We]—% saieat [ts | Me taazm [7-7 satrse—| 5 | 91 aati | a0] tat tae | 2 | 36 smaw | «| 73 s0-e30 | 3 | $5 rc 35 [00a “ss SER ay Seo eso Pre om Begiaeh fs ncn: Helsing (Ska) 08 ° See Append? fo lets pertorl by women and ei sar anfof womey suse of lene tine. 35 From discussions with women and men, we found that whilo men usually did the food shopping in the rural areas, in the city the responsibility tended to fall on. women who either went to the bazaar or purchased their goods from itinerant vendors who passed througa their neighbourhood. (Shopping in itself could be considered sovoral distinct tasks: deciding what #9 buy, choosing quality foods, and bargaining over the price) Women essontislly bore full respansibility for cooking, In both rural and urban arcas, women reported cooking twice each day. Inthe cities, women cooked in. the morning and at noon (heating up the lunch leftovers for dinner), while in the rural areas, women. cooked in the moming and afternoon (eating the food cooked in the morning for lunch also). Women also tended to prepare a shack in the afternoon for their children and husbands. The preparation of these three meals takes about six hours on average per day. Meanwhile, as women prepared the meals, they kept in mind what each family member preferred to eat, or other dietary requirements. That is, in addition 19 cooking, women act as managers and ¢ieticians. Case Study: Rehenas Bury Dey ehera (nother real nane) isa 35-year-old houtewif veg inthe Tigoola eren of Dhake. She has eared a bachelors degree, but has ne solavied job. Rehera's day begins at & fem, and she goes to bed between 12:30 ord t am Every day'she puts in 18-19 hous on family-rlated work: whet ‘she does Fish ene dey, che leves for the next arly mernngs, between 6 and 8 am. are very busy tes ‘for Rehena. She must prepare breakfast, woke up her son, 6wash his faze, get him ready to 90 to scheol (Feed end Clothe hin), and toke him to school, She prepores her hustand's' Breakfast, ond serves it fo him wher she returns from leaving her sen at Scho. She also prepares necessary ems for er husband te Toke to his office, end pocks hima lurch ‘Once Rechera's husbord hat left for the office, she hae hher onn breakfast. While her husbend usualy docs the food chopping, Behera donetines bays vegetebles from ‘the verdora who come door tooor” AY thi time, her Inaid alo arvivea, She explein fo the meid what che neede hher #o co that day, ond then Rehana herzelf begine leaning the heme (making the bed, putting clothes away, ete) Rehene again leaves the home at Iam to fetch her son heme from school, AT this time, the mad finishes her other work and begins preparing for inch by cleaning sh fad vegetables, ef. Rehena returns home WiTh het son, Dethes and feeds him. While she helps him with is homework, she algo prepares lunch end diner. She fist serves everyore lurch Ten bathe, pros, at fially sits ‘Sewn to ext When her husband retient hone from work, the serves everyone a late afternoan snack. TF she finds sone free ‘ine, se dees same sewing. While the meid woshes mast of the clothes and tckes the remaining Hens to c Commercial aundry,Rehena irons the clothes. ‘Av the moment, there are no elderly people in the hone. [Not long before, her morher-i-lw was unwell and was Iiving with them. AT the time, her fonlly had 10 poy 6 ruse 300 ha a doy to Jock after her Three months previously, another sick relative cane fe ie with them. Tt fas Rehenlsresporsibilty to look ater the pater. Rehene also looks after any quests who come. Sometines she goes shoping for househeld items. She pays the bils, such as her se's school fees, eectreity, weter, gas, end others: She must lock after her son ond husband 2” performing various snal tasts such os serving then food, bringing them sandals, etc. Rehena exolens that ferales have n0 free tine. Wheneves she might think of relaxing, there isalways more work To de, ores she expbis,"When Tm done helping my son stuy, the time is wp" She elther {25 obese dus sone sein oe ot ih. While she jad grevausy been in the habit oF studying, this is ro longer passib for her hora aaye that ll houtework hat ecenomie value. Bet the feels thet tz neither peesble nor right Yo put en ‘eonomievlus onthe work, For inetance te not poeibe 40 puta price on the affection che gives her husband ard Zon. She aaye that what le moat inportant to her i rot Prise, it her husband’ appreciation The research results revealed that while 43% of the participating households had a servant, the housshold help was temporary. The tasks assigned to servants generally Included dish washing, cleaning the home, Washing clothes, grinding spices once a week, and cooking preparation (cleaning and cutting of vegetables, etc). The household help receives 100-200 taka por task per month that is, 100-200 taka each, month for washing clothes, ¢ further 100-200 taka per ‘month for cleaning the home, etc,, with the amount fluctuating by area urban/rural and from one part of the country to another). Yet the women reported that they tended to bo unhappy with the quality of tho service that they received from poid servants, who they, say do not put their heart into the job, and thus did not perform the work well. Itis also for this reason that ‘most housewives will net allow their servants to cook. In the words of one housewife, “She doces’t remember what to do;1 have to keop reminding her” *‘Meanivhile, the women who performed housework for ppay in another woman's house wore also thomseluos housewives, performing the same work in their own hhome for their own family members, but without pay. ‘That 's, a woman performing the same work in two places is paid for a certain task in another person's hhome but not in hor own. Further, women with any paid employment till are rosponcible for most housework, meaning that they must essentially work ‘two fulhtime jobs: a paid one which at least grants them some recognition, and a heavy load of housework. We can estimate that women with full-time paid employment (@ hours a day) etill work a further 8 hhours a day at housework, likely also putting more hours in during the weekly holiday. ‘Women also have the main responsibility for helping children with their school work, including taking their children to and from school, arranging outside tutors, cetc. Women are the cnes who ensure that childcen do their school work properly and are usually the ones helping them to do i. Women also prepare their children in the morning to go to school, prepare their snacks, and take their children to school. In some eases, women sit outside the school and wait for their children to finish, in order to reduce the rickshaw or ‘bus fare that would be required to go from and to their homes. If a teacher tutors a child, s/he will receive 2,000-3,000 taka/month or more for teaching that child fone to two hours per day, while mothers of course receive no peyment for the tine they invest each day in their child's education. Women are also responsble for keeping track of every family momber’s noeds, from the smallest baby to tho cldeny relatives who live with them. Who needs what fat what time of day is all Uhe responsibilty of women. When there isa small baby, the load is even greater, as babies require almost constant attention; even when asleep, women ate listening for the crying of their children, and frequently must get up in the night 9 lean, feed, and eomfont em. Caring for domestic animals (feeding, cleaning, and other eare) is also the responsitility of women, in both. urban and rural areas. (Some specific activities connected to caring fer livestock/animals are listed in ‘Appendix 2.) Despite having full responsibility for taking care of the chickens, goat, cow, etc, when women sell livestock, they must give the money to their husbands for the family’s use: this also usually _means that the income earned is counted as part of the Inusband’s contribution to the family, rather than the ‘case Study: The Ife of « rurel housewife Shia (nother rel name) s a 40-year-old housewife living in the courtresie in Khulna, She studied through clace 7, tnd then got married. Her husbond Shamal (oat his real rane) isa farmer. They have ene son ond twe daughters. After finishing his secondary school certificate (SSC). her ‘on stoped studying Her eliex daughter is preparing for the SSC exams. ond her younger daughter has Just started schodl Shia gets up very ecrly every morning. s the merning isa very busy tine. After sweeping the hone, she goes out 10 prepare feod for the dicks Afterwards she continues oseinen map (hg fers: Se feats fat ‘a well nearby, so she does rot have Totfoe fare feteh outer ‘Shama! dees the farm work himself. He gets up very early Pate eliey ore nearer oe Rare er encanta eee eee oe Sota eea URES GS ake ie a eee ee arene rece eee ea pecan er ee oo Aas aes aS Beer bee cereal ter ener Fe eemper Sete octane eee eiieaestear ss Bone eer pen nce Peese ea armiee ey cae eee bel Paracel ceee eee Se enone cree ER ES Chileren, She says that women hove ne free tine: ll time Moga bitot misoner, eo Ute pomdend wes watts ene Dito are clemadbymoothing hem wi ws it ‘end od ens, 4 ig eccapied with work But if she does find «free monert, she sleeps or sews, She also feels that all housework has ‘an ecenamic value, but lke Rehena, she believes that Its either possible ror right te Try to put a monetary valve ont, In sum, virtually all housework is pesformed by women. ‘Asa result, many women said they had no free time; “We {et no vacation; even when we're sick we have to work,” Said one woman when explaining her lack of free time. ‘While 69% of women and 68% of men said that women Ihave free time, 31% of women and 31% of men said that their wives do not have fre time (Figure 5). However, for ‘hose women who said that they did have leisure time, ‘heir explanations of how they spend it make it cleat what, leisure time means to them. For instance, women said they spend their free time helping children with hhomework, taking thom for coaching, izoning, clothes, pulting clothes away, visiting sick friends and relatives, sewing dothes, aking cushions or wall hangings, and ‘doing whatever other tasks they were net able to complete during the day. A few women also said that when they had some free time afer lunch, they took anep. Figure 8. Respondents ooirion as townether women have free tre Yee te This is not to suggest that men are lazy or unoccupied. Like women, they have many important activites that, @‘occupy their time; like women, they often spend their free time in activities that more resemble work than rest. ‘When asked what their husbnds do with their feo time, the responses included working in the vegeteble garden ‘watering trees, weeding, going to market, helping with family work, fishing, preparing feed for caitl, collecting the rent from the pullers to whom they rent rickshaws, tutoring stadents for pay, skeping. taking everyone in the home out for fun, watching TV at a tea shop, chatting, and playing cards. Thus both sexes spend much (of their “free” time working..but women tended not to have the same purely leisure options as men. ‘Despite alle work that women do, they find no change in the family power structure. In most cases, men ete considered to be the head of the household. Maie- dominated households stem from the patriarchal family structure, with men earning the money and making ‘major household decisions. The only women who said that they wore the head of the household were divorced, widowed, or otherwise living without a husband. ‘Most women (70%) and even more men (77%) reported that husbands and wives have a discussion before making an important decision (Figure 6). Stil, a significant percentage of both said that they did not ddscuss decisions, even though almost no one sa that it ‘was not necessary to do 30. The types of issues they mentioned discussing together before making @ decision included whether to plant a vegetable garden, schooling for ther children selling of land, ‘aking a jb, the raising ‘of ducks and chickens, whether fo join eredit and savings ‘groups, and their deughter’s marrage.” 2 Athough he caging. mest mings, epcialy nals, sscaranglty Sona ‘er oes 6 Figure €. Whether spousns discuss Important decisions Yes Me Meee Focus group discussion results ‘The two focus group discussions (FGDs) with women, carried out in 2012 in Dhaka and Tongi focused on the amount of time women spent on different types of household work during the day and how much they ay others, or receive, for doing that work. Both FGDs revealed similar results. In many cases, there was ‘general agreement, eg. all women reported preparing, ‘meals three times a day, cleaning the house for an hour a day, and spending 30 minutes a day washing clothes. For most categories of work, such as cooking, nouse cleaning, clothes washing, taking care of children, private tuition, transport for school, and caring for the elderly, a rough taka valuation of the work was collected. For gardening, only time inputs, not ‘monetary values, were given by the urban women. The higher class women consisienily reported higher values for their tasks than did the middle class women. ‘with the lowest values being given by people who lived outside Dhaka, Utilizing the information collected in the FGDs, we see that a typical woman's day follows a typical patter: “gure 7.Aypical woman's cay (approx. hours spent on erent tives) She rises hetwoon § and 6 a.m. Until 10:0 or 11 am, she prepares breakfast, prepares the snack/meal for ‘school, helps her children wash for school and put on ‘their school uniforms, serves breakfast to her family ‘members, helps her husband get ready for the oifice, takes the children to school, cleans the house, and ‘washes the morning dishes. She may also spend time talking to her mother-in-law and reading the newspaper in breaks berween the other activities. ‘The woman will then typically start to prepare lunch around 11.90 am. If she takes her children to school, sshe will collect them, prepare a light smack for them, and only then start cooking. If she has more than one Child, she will spend more time collecting her children from school. By this time itis 430 of 5 p.m. She then serves the children and other femily members Iunchy ‘washes the dishes, takes her own lunch, helps the children take a nap, and perhaps takes a quick nap herself, She may also talk to het motherin-lew. 4s ‘An hour later she starts to prepare afternoon snacks and wakes her children from their nap. She spends a ood desl of time taking children to coaching centres. ‘She may watch TY, spend time with her children, supervise the children’s housework, and ifthe child has 2 private tutor, serve the tutor some food. At about 8 pam. she starts to prepare dinner Normally tho household work is finished by 10 or 11 p.m, after which she may do some preparatory work forthe next day. If her husband comes home late she will work even later. From about midnight to one a.m. she finishes cleaning and washing before going to bed for the night. ‘Two of the women who participated in the focus group also ceporting having 2 paid job. One works in an office from 10 a.m. to7 p.m. and takes her child ta the office with her. When she isn't busy with office work she takes care of her child. Another woman works as a maid, and must do work in her own home after finishing the work in her employer's house. When asked about their spouses, the women said that the men typically get up between 5 and 9 am. A fevr of the husbands help with the childzen, do the shopping, ‘or iron their own clothes. Many of them come home for lunch. If the husband works i an office, he returns ‘between 5 and 10 pm, though one woman noted that her husband typically does not return until midnight. ‘Most of the men go to sleep between I1 p.m. and 12, 4m. One of the men works at home after his day in tho office. While men also have busy days, their contribution is recognized while women’s is typically rot.‘A few of the women also mentioned some of the work that they do that most people would not think about, ‘such os deciding what to cook and all the arrangements ‘that go with cooking, That is, not only office work but ‘housework also involves thought and planning, ‘Some of the women reported that when their husbands returned home from work, they would ask winy the ‘ooking had not been finished, saying “What did you do all day? You have no work!” ‘Women said they have no vacations and must work even when they are sick. Those who have a formal job receive a salary and time off, housewives receive neither. When asked whet they did in their (limited) free time, the FGD participants replied that they watch ‘TV, go to the beauty parlour, read a book, listen to ‘music. or go out with her husband. ‘All of the participating women expressed how much ‘they enjoyed free time, for instance to go on outings, to take a break from caring for naughty children, to shop, and to socialize. One woman doseribed her free time as ‘that spent in the hair salon, where she could relax and ‘enjoy herself—for perhaps one hour a month. ‘One woman stressed how valuable in her life her reat periods were: "Fiom 9 to 10 a.m. this time is absolutely ‘ine. I listen to music, read, lle down, watch TV, ‘whatever my mind wants I can do with absolutely free ‘mind. Tike this time very much.” ‘When asked who sleeps most in the family, women initially said that it was the same for men and women, ‘or that women slaep more because they can take a nap “7 ring the day. But when they saw who goes to bed last and gots up first they realized that men sleep mor. ‘The FGD participanis felt that different types of work such as tutoring. cooking, and managing the housshold deserved a salary, but that household work hould not revessarily be pald. One woman commented that ‘money cannot buy everything. “Acknowledging, ‘unpaid household work is very important. This acknowledgement makes women feel good.” One woman suggested that efforts to change the perceived value of housework must start with children, to avoid creating a division between traditionally malo land female tasks. This could be included in the educational curricala, Women agreed that it ie important for women to lear how to do all types of household work. Women typically learn such work fom their own family at a young age. Since men are not asked to do it, they never learn how; ‘mothers-in-law donet ike men going into the kitchen. One FGD participant suggested that “We can stop doing household work and show the world how ‘important iti.” Participants said that there could be a Jaw that a portion of the husband's income should be ald to the wife as a monthly ration, or that the ‘government could pay a monthly wage 1 housewives. Another suggested that the government should give ‘women health care at a discounted rate. Overall, FD. participants wanted recognition of their work by their husbands and by the goverment. Finally, someone said that the Bureau of Statistics should collect regular information about the contribution made by women 6to the national economy through their unpaid household work, Analysis ‘As we see from this research, women perform a large umber of tasks each day. Most men and women—at least after being walked through the considerable ‘number of tasks that women perform—recognize that the work performed by women is important. When looking for an appropriate way to assign economic value, many questiors arise in terms of what price to assign to different tasks, how to deal with tasks that ‘women engage in simultaneously, or whether to assign ‘women a wage based on the number of hours they ‘work, and in that eas, using which wage asa baseline Some ways of addressing this issue include: ‘© Examining opportunity cosis—what women could earn if they performed paid work during the time they spend on housework; ‘© The cost of paying household help to do the tasks otherwise performed by housewives; 1+ The cost of ataining the services performed by housewives on the market, that is, of washing, clothes at a laundry, eating in a restaurant, hiring @ tutor for ones children, ete; ‘© The salary received by men fora fairly standard job, pro-rated according to the number of hours full-time housewives typically work each year. [Each of the methods has its advantages and drawbacks. In this revised version of this report, we look only at ” two calculations: using prices paid to servants or other workors for various tasks; and comparing women’ work to government salaries. While other calculations could be performed, as there is no “correct” figure and endless calculations ate beside the point, which is simply to arrive at a reasonable estimate or range of the contribution women make through their unpaid work Calculating the value of women's work using market prices: payment by task In this calculation, we look at what different women. pay someone else to carry out eight or nine of the key household tasks. The lst includes only eight or (when gardening is included) nine of the roughly 45 tasks women carry out. In a few cases, extreme oulliers were discarded; otherwise, an average was calculated for each task. Although obviously not all women perform all the listed tasks at all times in their lives, the table is. ‘based on the assumptions that most women in Bangladesh between the ages of 15 and 64 carry out most ofthese tasks on a regular basis, end that it Is thus, fair to assign a wage based on what it would cost to pay someone else to perform them. That is, fa woman, cooks, cleans, washes clothes, buys groceries, cares for others, and so on, then she should earn what ono would pey to others to perform those tasks.“Table 5. Amounts paid for housshold work por month and cstinatod timo Invested, Dhaka middle and upper class and ‘outside Dhaka verge | average | Averoge rently |menty | Ronaty ™ ite | (op usice Ss, ete’ | Shara ra) Coco Gerowniaw) | 2a | ate | 19 Nao we | |e ‘lhe wana GO wo) wo | oe iat Genny stoning (3 ~ | | = hereon Feswgyre-renne | ase | ars] ta Bhai ereevey | 2 2 zi Prat aso | seo | tna Traneom oastod vaso | gw | soo (depot on dance) Gata toreoty aor | roo | ace Fam wom = = [et Monty wot ‘Seve heme ae ssa | nis | ansn minded) ‘The above list contains only eight (for Dhaka) and nine Wor outside Dhaka) tacks, yet women commonly periorm roughly 45. Tor instance, the only childcare tasks in the above table are for feeding children, putting them to bed, tutoring them, and taking them to school. Yet obviously raising children involves vastly ‘more tasks than those four. Some tasks, such as st managing the household finances and accounts and paying bills, and all tho tasks related to farming and care of livestock, could be given values based on, professional wage rates, but i is difficult, as with the above tasks, to decide which wage to apply. Although wages are lower in the countryside, women in rural areas perform a far wider variety of tasks than do women in the city, and most Bangladeshi women (72%) live in rural areas. Women may also invest far more time in theic tasks than are reflected in the monthly wage rates for instance in tutoring their children or in easing, for the sick. Further, women perform their tasks with more affection and loving care than would someone whois doing the task soley for pay. [Note that the values included above are what people already pay to others, mostly servants, to carry out the tasks. If all the tasks were sourced outside the home (paying 2 cock in a restaurant, having clothes washed ina laundry, ete) then the wages would be higher. Its Important to distinguish between what people pay to have a task performed and what the task 1s actually worth. For instance, just because someone may pay only a couple hundred taka a month to have their clothes washed or house cleaned doce nct mean that they do not value that work, but simply that they cam get away with paying litle morey for it. A more useful estimate of value would be not what people pay for the tasks, but how much they estimate their quality of life would deteriorate if the work were not performed, ©, comparing the relative contribution to people’ livelihood of housewives, most businessmen, farmers, and accountants. As for women who have servants and 2thus do not have to carry out all tacks, i is important to ‘remember that servants roquire supervision, and the job ‘of the supervisor is better paid than that of the labourer. ‘The table shows three very different estimates for the value of the solected tasks. The lowest figure comes from middle class Dhaka residents, at 15,598 taka (U5$194) per month. A similar but slightly higher figure (but with far more extreme outliers) comes from outside Dhaka, at 15808 taka (USS198) 2 month. The highot is for upper class Dhaka resident, at just over 21,600 taka (6260) per month. There were unfortunately several discrepancies inthe figures ealeetsd outside Dhaka, with several missing valves (not all ofthe forms were filed in properly) and a very wide range for thers (eg om 300 to 3,00 taka/month fer cooking) the nambers are thus far from rekable. We clocarded two extreme values (10, 20, ard 600 taka per month for farm work) and one form (which gave the same numbers for all tasks). Some of the numbers for riddle class Dhaka residents also varied widely, eg. from 10) to 2,250 taka/menth for tansporting children to school In any case, the best that can bealtempted is an estimation of a reasonable valuation for women’s ‘work, as no “true” figure exists, given the impossibility of placing a genuine monetary value on the work ‘women de without pay. ‘As the middle class Dhaka residents provided the most reasonable figures in terms of a middle range and greater reliability than for outside Dhaka, we will apply that (acualy the lowest) figure, of 15,508 taka permonth. Inorder to arrive at amore realistic figure forthe value of women’s contribution, we decided to establish an approximate value per tak, based on the average ofthe amounis given above for Dhaké-based middle class women, and apply that to an additional 7 tasks, 0 a5 to representa total of 15 of the 45 tasks women commenly perform. An average (15/538 divided by 8) yields 4 ‘modest 1982 taka per month per task. Muiplying thot figure by an additional sever tasks (19427) amounts to 13585 “taka, Added to the orginal eight tasks (15,595145 53), this vields a monthiy wes of 2,138 tak, dra yearly total of 48,594 taka(USS437) per woman, ‘Tre estimated population of Bangladesh in 2012 was 161 million people, of which 52:16 million were women aged 15 to 64 years” Multiplying the abou taka figure 01 319,50 per woman by 52.16 milion women aged 15 {0 64 provides total figure of 1825410 million taka, or U5§227.95 billion per year for all women in Bangladesh. Caleulating the value of women's work using. government salaries Given the vital nature of housework and childcare for the functioning of society, one could argue that it should nat be valued at the low rates currently paid for most work done by women. For instance, ono could instead apply a mid-range government salary to calculate the value of women’s unpaid work, if one believes that the work is of relatively similar “hg go ible wml iSdeenbei 7importance. But while government workers take vacations and work a shortor day, women commonly work 16 hours a day ond get no vacotion. The work that they do is vital to the nations wellbeing. [e thus seems fair to double the government wage, t0 account for far more than 2 doubling of time invested by ‘The mid-level Bangladesh govemment wage (10 out (of 20 ranks) for 2009 in Bangladesh was 16,540 taka per ‘month. Doubling that to account for the more than double hours that women work, yields 32,080 taka/month or 396,960 taka per year. Applying that ‘wage across the 52.16 million women in Bangladesh aged 15 to 64 yields a total figure of 20,705 433.50 million taka, or US§258 82 billion. In the original research from 2006, published in 2007, we utilized three different (and mostly more complicated) methods of arriving at an estimated value for women’s contribution The first invalved (i) caleulating a market price for various important tasks ‘women perform, (i) estimating the time per day they spend on them, and thus (ii) calculating a daily rate which was applied across urban and rural women, based on differential rates for both, and (iv) applying twice the rate for full-time housewives (or home ‘managers) as for those who were also employed in another job. That method gave a result of US$69.8 billion. We then utilised a shortcut method. applying fone basic rate across 45 tasks, which yielded the figure ‘of US$81.99 billion. Finally we applied a mid-range Shape bel pw thomemsinofTcisl Mason Pa. Seal php 5s government salary, which gave a figure of USS91.0 billion. In comparison, GDP at tho time was USS603 billion. ‘The results from 2006 and 2012 are not comparable, as, the logic behind the calculations is different. Coleuleting wage rates and multiplying by a 16-hour day ignores the multi-tasking women engage in, and. ‘the wages used may have been unrealistically low. In terms of a government salary, we fee! that accounting. for the far more than double hours that women work gives a more accurate comparison than simply, applying a government salary across all women aged. 15464, [Fis unlicely that women’s contribution to the nation as compared to GDP is more than it was six years age: instead, this newer method of calculation is ‘more accurate, We did mat conduct new research to look into the work wornen do, as that i also unlikely to ‘nave changed in the past six years Discussion “If women’s work has no value, then why do we pay maids?” responded one woman when asked whether women’s household work has value. Yet it i unlikely that ether men or women are aware of the magnitude of the contributions that women make through their _unpaid work. Each method of calculation used above has its advantages and disadvantages. In the end, a couple of sues become obvious: it is impossible to generate a precise, accurate value of women’s unpaid work. For Instance, If we Took at market wages, it would be 6difficult to determine which wages to apply. as people carn vastly diflorent amounts. For instance, chefs in a ‘cheap versus expensive restaurant cam fer different wages. Furthe, typical wages paid for a job do not, necessarily reveal the actual worth of the work. ‘Considering the United States asa point of contrast, we find that some of the highest-paid people include fashion models and sports stars, and the lowest paid include sodal workers and child care workers. ‘Throughout the world, farmers and women, who ‘engage in the tasks most necessary to our survival, earn a fraction of that earned by soft drink company ‘executives, arms dealers, and TV exocutives. Clearly somewhere along the lin, the value of work to society and the amount we pay for it have widely diverged, making it extremely cifficult to place a reasonable figure on the worth of work. Since itis impossible to assign a fair wage for each task, it is irelovant how ‘many women perform how many different tasks. ‘Thus, the point ofthis research was not to arrive at the correct figure of women’s contribution, but rather to give a sense of its magnitude by presenting a reasonable range of estimates, That magnitude Will vary considerably depending on whether we continue to undervalue the work performed by women. or begin to assign it value based on its essential nature to the functioning of society. ‘As seen above, using two different but fairly straightforward methods, we arrived at very different—yet similer—figures: $2799 billion and 'US§258.82 billion. That is, even when undervalued, ‘women’s unpaid work is worth more than $200 billion s 1 year, Compare this figure to various industries and it is clear that women contribute far more than do other sectors of the economy. Yet we hear much more about how industry is important to the economy than we do of women's contributions. The figures we have estimated are also quite substantial in relation to total GDP for the whole country, Which was estimated at US$118,7 billion for the year 2012.” That is, our estimates are that women. contributo at least as much fo the country as GDP and, {quite likely more than twice the amount While thot might at ‘first seem implausible, it is helpful to remember that, among other issues: a) GDP excludes ‘most of women's work, so if women’s work overall, were valued at the same rate as men’s, GDP would likely double; b) women on average work 16 hours ‘each day, which is presumably more than the average figure for men, so theit production could well greatly exceed that generated by men; and ¢) women are responsible for providing some of the mast basic and ‘essential goods and services, which should be valued ata higher rate than unnecessary ox harmful activities. While we do not consider GDP to be a particularly realistic or helpful measure of social or economic wellbeing, it is significant to note that in Bangladesh, according to our estimates, GDP would triple, from USSI18,7 billion to $339.83 billion or $3788 billion, depending on the method used to calculate the value of ‘women's Work. © CTAWontd Feta ‘pe ww cla gory pobitoashe-nor- acto eur s‘The reasonableness of our estimates may he a source of dabate, but a few facls cannot be denied. Women werk ‘many hours cach day and rarely, if ever, get a veestion, even when sick, Women perform muldple tasks simultaneously. Many women, particularly those with a young baby, work even longer days than the 16 hours ‘estimated here. Mary of tho jols women perform cannot bb given an economic valuation, such as breastfeeding, and others were left out ofthe calculations yet are jobs worth high pay. Finally, no family or society could function ‘without the work that women perform—something that ‘anno! be said of many of the jobs that receive far higher salary on the market In the end, the question is not how to arrive at an accurate figure, but to understand the incredible ‘magnitude of women’s contribution to families, cociety, and the nation’s economy and well-being through their unrelenting hard work at tasks that are absolutely essential for survival. Conclusion and recommendations ‘There is no question that women are involved in a tremendous amount of work that has significant value to family, society, and the nation. If women were ever to go fon strike, we would understand more fully the full worth ‘and importance of their work. In fact, families would ‘cease to function if women did no! work, which is the Precise reason why women cannot go on sirike. Men are able to engage in paid labour because ofall the work that women do in the home: cleaning the home, washing, Clothes, preparing food, washing dishes, and engaging in all the tasks involved in bearing and raising children. 9° The above figures make it clear thet women make an ‘enormous contribution to the economy. Yet the work ‘women do has no visible return; it is considered to be their duty and responsibility, unskilled work for which women deserve no credit. However, when looked at differently, women’s unpaid work represents a subsidy to the ontiro economy. Without this work, companies land other employers would have to pay a far higher salary to men to allow them to hire someone to do the domestic work without which they could nat go to work, and families—and hence society and. the nation —weuld not function. Its due ta the invisibility of women’s work, not its actual lack of importance, thst the workis often considered to be valueless. ‘The Government of Bangladesh has acknowledged in ite Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) that the contribution of women through their unpaid work, should be calculated and properly credited (see Appendix 1), yet nowhere in the PRSP is there any ‘mention of how such a caloulation could occur. The ‘calculation of the economic value of women's work is complicated and difficult, as has been demonstrated, hnere. We tried, in this research, to make 2 calculation of the amount that women’ work may be worth in ‘economic terms. These early attempts, however, need not necessarily be considered sufficient or adequate, Further research and analysis would help to arrive at a Deiter figure and to understand more theroughly the various issues involved in considering how women contribute to the economic wellbeing of the nation through their unpaid work. For instance, the Bangladesh Buroau of Statistics (BBS) could claborate a olist of the different tasks that women perform, by location, age, class, and other variables, that list could then be used to calculate the economic value of women’s work. ‘Some additional advocacy activites and meseages that need to be highlighted include: '* Raise people's and policymakers’ awareness of the importance of women’s contribut Without the work thet women do each day, society would not function. + Convince government officials to inciude women’s “work in national economic measurements (such as GDP), and to indude women who engage in household work as members of the economically productive population: Those engaged in household works should be viewed as employees fully entitled to [pensions and other workers’ benefits + Demonstrate that public money spent on women's well-being suppoits the economy: Frograms to assist women represent a tiny return on women's contribution to society, rather than a net cost, and are a right, not an ‘uncamed privilege; likewise, epending money ‘on women is aa investment in the economic wellbeing of the country rather than an expense, ‘* Try to lnvolvemen in domestic tasks in order to reduce the burden on women: Household tasks should be the responsibility of the household, not of one person alone. 6 ‘© Remember that when creating income generating, oppertunitos for women wo may be increasing, their burden: Its important not to treat women without paid employment as unoccupied. ‘Policies should roflect the important services women (and men) provide in their domes work and should not necessarily be aimed at achieving high formal labour rates among women. More needs to be done to view childeare, elder care, and other household/domestic activities as « benefit, not a menial task: Children and the elderly need care, and having someone to provide it is an extremely valuable service. * shoren the standard workweek; in France by law, paid employees cannot put in more than 35 hous of work per week. Encourage rather than discourage part-time employment by improving pay and benefits. Benefits should accruc to workers regardless of whether they work fall time, as otherwise managers can avoid paying such benefits by simply hiring part-time workers. Given high unemployment fates. iis ‘sstental to enable part-time werk (co aa to have more people working fewer hours rather than a few people working many) A shorter workweek could. make it easier for women to full their household duties and for men to contribute to household work Two linguistic suggestions also atise from this discussion. One is to be careful in the use of the term e“working woman.” We often use the term to refer to women with formal paid employment, but tho ouggestion is that taking care of the home dees not involve work. We could rather refer to most women as working women, and use the term “formally employed” to connote those with a formal job. Similarly, tho torm “housewife suggests a woman with little to do; 2 more appropriate term could be “home manager” ‘The measures deteribed above could help us to achieve 1 society in which both earning money and caring for the household and for others would be valued and, enabled. It is not just about making things easier or Detter for women, but about creating a society in which ‘people do not have to make extreme sacrifices in terms cf their family responsibilities in order to meet their ‘material needs. ‘Money alone should not be the goal, and dollar figures are olten misleading, As economics professor Nancy Folbre polnts out, when more women take on paid jobs, the amount of time they can spend on unpaid work declines. Men typically do not take up the slack. As a result, living standards are actually lower than GDP would suggest, as more income has to be apent on "purchasing food away from home, housekeeping, child care and elder care services that were once provided outside the market” Living standards and economic ‘welfare depend not just on family income, but on the amount of time people have to devote to unpaid work.” °F, Nagy. “Vilting Unpid Work Mates Especial fore oor New Wank Tans cline Sepember 21,2009 e Bhutan is unusial, perhaps unique. in defining work more broadly. Time use (for work and sleep} is one of the nine domains in the mesourement of Gross National Happiness (what could more precisely be called Gross. National Wellbeing). Under the GNHL definition, unpaid work such as childcare, labour contribution to community work, and voluntary work fare all closcifiod ae work. This includes kitchen gardening, care of dhildren and sick members of the household, craftrelated activities, household ‘maintenance, and processing of food and drinks. While eight hours is the legal limit to the standard working ‘day, over half of the population of Bhutan is over” worked (working more than § hours day). The overworked consist mainly of women, who are overworked regardless of whether they live in towns or villages.” While GNH does not place a monetary value ‘on the work women do without pay, it fakes this issue a large step forward by defining the various houschold and family-related tasks as work. Calealating the economic valve of the unpaid work performed by women, ond adding that value to Ieasures of national wealth such as GDF, would net only signaficantly crease the sum represented by GDP >but would increase the value or meaning, ofthe figure, by including a long-neglected element, the unpaid work of women. It would also contribute to making visible the careontly invisible work peeformed by millions of women throughout the country. As aresul, ° Wetivel, John, Rehard Layid and Jang Sacha a Worid Happiness Report aes ae Cotati svi, 012 othe status of women would increase, and the treatment fof women by thoie family mombors, at well as by officials, would likely improve, contributing to a more gender-equal sodety as well as a wealthier nation. It would also help people to understand that governments expenditures on women are not an fexponse but infact an investment, resulting in significant financial ae well as other yielde to individual, families, society and the nation. “The current system is not friendly to our environment, fear resource base, or to various human needs such as the need for leisure, recreation, and family time. It seems that eaming money is the only valuable use of time, and those whose lives are spent caring for babies of for elderly relatives or performing other needed but ‘unpaid services to their families or their communiti are treated as non-workers, as unproductive. At the same time, those who wish or need to work for pay, who have labour and skills and talent to offer, often cannot find a job, and many needed jobs are not performed becnuse there is nobody to pay for them. ‘This research addresses just one piece of the puzzle. It is hoped that by looking anew into how well GDP captures what we valus, and how much of what we value is ignored in measures of societal wealth, we can begin the process of making major changes to the way ‘we count and attempt to increase wealth. If we succeed, in changing our focus from measuring and encouraging financial transactions to enhancing ‘wellbeing, we will make a huge step forward for our families, societies, and our nation. 6s References + Aimed, Rona, “eer tin fate = Stik i andiatsode nb + ingen es Sets 5 0 stad Sana Se Oo is + boom Bb en nnd ies Promoring Male “Responsibly or Gender Ppa = te gle, a seared anaes «Bn Pa eg oor Ne Loon nascar + ager Re of Pg Math, Hon pr Neniae oh elle oy ek +a Sie Wy MCS Noes see Ss Skee Chmited, 1996. Persie ‘% +t on Ran ao ns Seon Sense ar es Sere i + Heyman, yond Citroen a i ee es a i Nl Ta Re rele + He oy in li et eG Sereda fete oa ae a ms Stu ly Se ttpiilen. wikipedia.org/wiki/List_c cor by CDP iy pmlc we” Te Baty Sa, Beamer 20 (hep thosilyetar no 2006/1221 8612011500116 bi) + ng iy “Cong Spohn St as eta RE = ncn ae B a Se Let oNe UTE «+ Waring, Marivn If Women Cound A New Feminist Economic HarperarFrancseo 1988 + UNPAC. "Women and the Economy” 203-2006, Intpliwirwurpec alec /anpaidwork hn + World Health Organization, Inpct of Tobace raid nso in Bogle, Disk fatary S008 Appendices ‘Appendix 1, Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) ‘Theimportance of womerts unpaid work smentioned in the Poveryy, Reduction, en tee ape (PRSP) oF many counties In Bang fer the Policy Matrix “Womens ‘avancement snd. Right (Mainstaming economic activities" the following appears: . womersefceny (reiuce time Sse focal Gromeccmenoes + Key Targets “Rates swarenesato improve men’s contribution in househole activites. ARemptt© ‘Sleulate women’s owschold contrbction in National Income Accounding by 2007" ‘Actions Taken/Underway! “Social austing initiates + PRSPPalicy Agenda: “.Inckade women’s jon in the National Income Acovunting by eveloping mechanism of shadow Pavel cost analysis; Promote equal Hharng oF household and productive werk.” Tats vert ply may te cy an Ra Peeing CL anand abe at tonsil wort“ natn coe esti Cole Bid ugh piphine e ors s neh tome unre guo pec was whch eer tharingeul ce Here agi peter net OF lure tnt by mon tan wore He he eco Mellitus fndy eledag Be barton women o Appendix 2 List of task regularly performed by women sea a ee aero Sg iene ei er hay Sia a ote eR aa Neral Tal orem "uary by the age ofthe child. It Tay ese eee Siu aeatarnimsee. seein dae el ea ye ae aa Bome tasks are seasonal or occasional, including certain Haein oer otae Oeste seed telat gure or 'S aslo his Sweetin Jonge oa ere eee De esta sepuiy Ll enna 3. Preparing plot, etc. for vegetable gar Lemans emcee, arn E Aarsags fandening iy Er um ee io Rebatsnsteteanan sa he wn pe neem cae 7 ce Hancicais Pies laksa ace as 16 Ely Hi ete ‘Housework ane 8 Cleaning the home oweeging, washing the for distin puny ting my) @2. Cleaning around the home 3r. Tending mud foorstokeep out ust 2 Nak Ergngand ing down 23 hing canes 0-8 tumes/day 3A Mand-vashing cutbes hangitg clothes out Caring for family members. x crane for husband chldzen helping wh homework Slaten and fbn hood Tboking efter guests & a ils Shopping for food 1B. Sobbing for clothes and othr house items 42. Managing th hoscheld (organising acute: ees autmoreamm cers righ sac Mara {She pon Pig oo sl ae aig afl Be IERer ing titel or lve at pot Ch iene togh me ole sat chehcr abe kl pct ‘Se'fov man be sei Alles ae ound inthe td rey {moos leming ne sete rac se er well a oven shies wi a mot ad pee brs bar and oof rang in. @ 45. Taking thei othe doctor Leisure time activities Watcingry stoning othe radio ising tens or fan Rothe ¥ Taking cre of htdren Sovite Fintttguninishod work ‘adhcbathngdtssing persona ora, paying study el ieeoopenns 10 Katey ema ered rr {mieroredi groper women’ groups tc) t 2 5 4, Helping with food preparation and co 5 Chang tran ee se “es & Feeding children 3. Taking tildron to and from school 8 Tending to children 8. Cellecting foe! ‘Appendix. Questionnaires Indepth interviews checklist women "ves anyone help you with your owsework? ‘OWnohep jou? ‘De ys fy Et perme? © Flow much do you pay thet person, and for wiesenah Te What lindo work door the pron do? (is) = Wat workdo you doin th bere? fs) "Do youhaes any vets? to Ga oe Sine? i) «Does your hurbon sth your wok? ‘Olfs0, what tasks does hehe you wh? m+ ls there an economic vale to the work you do for the family? = ‘yes, wy? eno, why not? + Do you dnd your husband dicuss deckions? Give an ifs ilden Sah SENET ae LE, he sonic intl sean wen es sme yet prot STS ay a pon nd be ora it tnt a yates dines 25 Bh ary bee? Stic SCG eft ) poverty de a SHE Sey fe concent ie oie Fe jor odes inane Eom wnt + bn Son ar we ALO acon Ge an edo ia ath - SENEG San ete te scomomic Sta erat yh ‘Survey form Questionnaire for marred women Village: Wark Union: Sub-distics District Researcher’ name: Date: Bsc taformation 3 ABE: 1 Mendaty income: ¢ Husban’s age 4 Hesbanel’ monthly income: Profesion: + Level of education iterate, ean only write name can ‘sad and wets, lace 3, dave 66, dass 988C, HSC, n ihe education other ‘oManlal satus: Maried Widowed Separated Single ‘Nuntbe of fay members Nuttbe of people eamingan income: Number of = Sno iste held of he househoxd? ‘Wai the pofesion ofthe head of the household? ‘Hs yourheuse owne/ented/ather? Information on women's work ‘What work do you doin the family? Reni ‘+ Doyouhave any fee ine? Yeo 2 f'yen wat do you do in your fre time? fy cotyorrtuind doe tnt {2 Iethe work you doin the house ° Yeo important Whyiwhy not? ‘+ How could one eatimate the econcmic vals ofthe ‘work you do? *+ Bas fone Ftp you with your husewer? YeiNe ©. If so, who? (mad sister inlawy, mother in- D you natn tpy with your work? ‘Yes/No Pysewwyens ‘Of ys, with what work? (st) ‘+ Doyou and yourhusband dichss important Geckdons? aN ‘pe © ltyem give an example