Unpaid work

Woman participating in unpaid domestic work by cooking meal for family

Unpaid work is labor employment done without giving any wage to the worker. These may be either members of a family or cooperative; conscripts or forced labour; volunteer workers who work for charity or amusement;^[1] students who take intern positions as work experience; or conventional workers who are not paid because their enterprise is short of money or subject to embezzlement.

One common form of unpaid work is unpaid domestic work. The burden of this type of unpaid work generally falls on the women in a household. Contributing so much time to unpaid domestic work has major effects on women and their participation in the labor market, which consequently affects children, society, and the state.

Unpaid domestic work

Definition

Unpaid domestic work is often a controversial topic within feminist economics, as it is significantly influenced by traditional family views. Unpaid domestic workers are often women who do not seek employment but instead work within the household and engage in domestic labor. The known factors behind a woman’s employment decisions include but are not limited to: the support of their spouse, the modernization degree of gender roles as well as the pressure of family responsibility. Regarding unofficial employment (including self-employment, a position within self-run enterprises and unpaid domestic labor) of women in the western world, such work is more commonly treated as a part-time occupation. In contrast, in many other parts of the world unofficial employment refers almost directly to unpaid domestic labor, not as an occupation but instead as an extension of a pre-existing family role. The working position is placed within the framework of the family, and the laborer is required to both see to family matters as well as the occupation.^[2]

Types of Unpaid Work

Unpaid Domestic Work

Unpaid domestic work is all the unpaid work done within the home other than caring for children and family members. This primarily includes cleaning and maintaining the home.^[3]

Unpaid Care Work

Unpaid care work is the care a person provides to their own family and household members.^[4]

History

The traditional view of a family involves a woman in unpaid domestic labor supporting the household; however, under trends of dual earner couples and a gradually aging population, the commercialization of housework and domestic care has become inevitable. Arguments have been made that the value of unpaid domestic labor must always be considered to prevent the exploitation of unpaid workers, and thus should be seen as legitimate employment. There are also arguments that a "caregiver allowance" should be provided to unpaid domestic workers to protect the labor value of their work.^[5]

Regardless of the methodology used, a variety of studies have shown that the division of household labor results in a disproportionate burden falling on the wives in married couples' households. While this is the case, it has also been shown that the disparity between men and women in married households has been shrinking to some degree.^[6] For example, during the Great Recession of the 2000s, low income men increased their contributions to their households by completing more hours of unpaid domestic work.^[7]

Entry into Unpaid Domestic Work

Based on societal pressures and norms, women often are pressured to take on the majority of unpaid work within the home, regardless of whether the woman is employed outside the home or not.^[3] Female employment demographics indicate that the employment of married women is affected greatly by marriage and childbirth. Due to a husband’s employment, a woman can often be pushed into the role of an unpaid domestic worker through traditional as well as economic pressure. Even when women are employed full-time outside the house, they may perform a greater share of household chores and childcare activities.^[8] Gender-based pay inequity in the labor market contributes to this phenomenon. Women face lower wages and fewer promotional opportunities and adjust their time in the labor market to respond to demands at home.^[9]

Effects

Because the burden of unpaid work falls disproportionately on women, unpaid work has a number of negative effects on women, their children, and society. On the other hand, when this work is provided by family members for free, it has a positive effect on a state's budget.

Effects of Unpaid Domestic Work on Women

Time use surveys show that women spend far more time doing unpaid work than men.^[4] With women spending more time providing unpaid domestic work than men, women are also spending less time in the workforce and, therefore, bringing in lower incomes to the household.^[4] Because women are traditionally believed to bring in less income than men, women are discouraged from investing in education and skills.^[4] This further entrenches women into domestic unpaid work, creating a cycle of social norms that is difficult to break.^[4]

Even if women do enter the workforce, they are usually still held accountable for the majority of the domestic unpaid work at home.^[4] This phenomenon of having to work a full day in the workforce and then come home and complete a full day of unpaid domestic work is known as the double burden. The double burden negatively effects women because it gives them less time to spend in the workforce, resulting in men dedicating more time to the workforce, and, therefore, likely getting promoted over women.^[4] The double burden also negatively effects women's personal wellbeing because it means women have less time for taking care of themselves and sleeping.^[10] This can also negatively effect their job performance in the workforce, encouraging male promotion over female.

Older child caring for younger child as a form of unpaid care work

Effects of Unpaid Domestic Work on Children

Statistics show that many children, particularly in poorer countries and households, are forced to contribute to the unpaid domestic work of a household.^[4] Because unpaid domestic work is traditionally the role of women in many societies, the burden of unpaid domestic work falls particularly on young girls who are forced to drop out of school to assist with the unpaid work within their households.^[3]

Effects of Unpaid Domestic Work on the Economy

Some economists argue that unpaid domestic work should be included as economic contributions.^[4] Unpaid work contributes to the economy by producing important goods and services such as meals and cleanliness of the home.^[4] This allows other household members to enter the workforce and contribute to the overall economy via paying jobs.^[4] For this reason, Indira Hirway argues that unpaid domestic work should be considered economic production rather than consumption.^[4] Hirway also notes that unpaid domestic work has the attributes of a standard economic good because it is neither free nor unlimited.^[4]

IMF estimates that a country could significantly increase its GDP if women could fully participate in the workforce.^[4] For instance, if unpaid work were incorporated when measuring GDP, it would have raised the GDP by 26 percent in 2010.^[11]

Unpaid work also effects the labor supply of the economy because fewer women are entering into the workforce due to their domestic unpaid work duties.^[4]

Effects of Unpaid Domestic Work on the State

Unpaid domestic work has a positive effect on a state's budget.^[4] Unpaid domestic work is typically the type of work that a state would provide for its citizens if family members were not already providing for their family.^[4] This includes things like child care, elder care, medical care, and nutrition.^[4] Because these things are being provided by an unpaid domestic worker, the state does not need to expend resources to provide its citizens with these services.^[4] Therefore, unpaid domestic work can decrease the amount of money a state must spend to otherwise provide these services.^[4] Note, however, that when a state cuts care services for the young, elderly, sick and disabled, the burden of this care is generally placed on female family members, meaning decreases in a state's spending on care can have a negative effect on female participation in the workforce.^[10]

Time Use Surveys

One way to measure unpaid domestic work is through time use surveys.^[10] These surveys attempt to evaluate how much time is spent providing different services, such as time spent in the workforce versus time spent on unpaid domestic work, such as cooking.^[10] More than 20 countries have conducted time use surveys to learn more about the division of unpaid work in domestic households.^[10] For example, Sarah Gammage conducted time use surveys in Guatemala to measure time spent doing unpaid domestic work within households and between family members.^[12] In this study, Gammage found women completed approximately 70% of all unpaid domestic work within a household.^[12] Similarly, Debbie Budlenger conducted time use surveys across six different countries and found women in each country conducted the majority of the unpaid domestic work each day.^[13] The results of her findings are summarized in the chart below:

In a different time use survey, Liangshu Qi and Xiao-yuan Dong found that, in China men complete an average of 58 minutes of unpaid work a day compared to the 139 minutes of unpaid work a day that women complete.^[14]

Valuation

There are three different ways to measure the value of unpaid domestic work: the opportunity cost method, the replacement cost method, and the input/out cost method.^[15]

Opportunity Cost Method

The opportunity cost method measures the value of unpaid domestic work by calculating the amount of money unpaid domestic workers could be making if instead of doing unpaid work they were working in the labor market.^[16] For example, if a former female attorney is now a stay-at-home mother conducting unpaid domestic work, the value of an hour of unpaid domestic work is the hourly rate she could make if she were working as an attorney.^[16] The major flaw with this method is that two unpaid domestic workers can do the same job at the same proficiency level, but the value of the work will fluctuate based on the workers' prior education and skill level.^[16] It is also a problem for women who never held a job, because it is unclear how much money they would be making if they were participating in the work force, rather than working unpaid at home.^[16]

Replacement Cost Method

The replacement cost method measures the value of unpaid domestic work by calculating the monetary cost of purchasing that service instead.^[10] For example, to value unpaid child care, look at the cost of hiring a nanny, or to value the cost of cooking a meal, look at the cost of eating a similar meal at a restaurant.^[10] The flaw with this method is that it cannot account for the added sentimental value of having a mother stay at home with her children rather than a stranger.^[16]

Input/Output Cost Method

The input/output cost method measures the value of unpaid domestic work by calculating the monetary value of the economic goods and services produced by unpaid domestic work and how much these goods and services would sell for in the open market.^[16]

Double Burden

Definition of the Double Burden

A double burden, otherwise known as a double day, is the phenomenon that a woman holds a paying job in the labor market and then must come home and work a full day's worth of unpaid domestic work within the home.^[15] Due to societal norms and expectations, the burden of unpaid work primarily falls on the female in the household even if she and her husband work the same hours in the labor market.^[15]

Effect of the Double Burden on Women

Because women are expected to complete the unpaid domestic work within a house, even if she is working full-time, the responsibilities and burdens of unpaid work are proven to increase women's stress levels.^[15] In a study conducted by Martha MacDonald, Shelley Phipps, and Lynn Lethbridge, they found that women conducted the majority of the unpaid household work even when they held paying jobs.^[15] They also found that this burden increased the stress level of the women surveyed.^[15] In the same study, they found some unpaid domestic work was more stressful than others.^[15] Specifically, the pressures of eldercare and household work like cleaning proved to be the most stress-inducing for women experiencing a double day whereas childcare was found to be less stressful.^[15] The study also asked men about the stresses of having to do unpaid domestic work and have a paying job, but found that because men are typically not responsible for the majority of the unpaid domestic work, they were on average not stressed at all by the few unpaid work hours they contributed to the household.^[15]

Controversy

As the issue of unpaid domestic workers is closely tied to concepts within gender equality, there have been many discussions over the subject. In 2010, The New York Times released an article detailing the stigma of housewives and domestic labor in northern European countries as well as much of the developed world. As education levels of women continue to rise, unpaid domestic workers are beginning to be seen as “lazy” and a drain upon GDP, leading to the negative image of an unemployed housewife.^[17]

Unpaid student interns in the United States

There are three quarters of a million unpaid internship positions in the United States every year. Internships should provide training for students, not to be used by employers to save costs according to labor law. Two lawsuits have been recently launched by students who claim they were utilized as cheap (free) labor by their so-called employers to replace paid-workers.^[18]

See also

• Online volunteering
• Feminist economics
• Care work
• Child care
• Double burden
• Housewife
• Hobby
• Voluntary slavery
• Crowdsourcing
• Creative Crowdsourcing

References