#BreakTheBias: Burden of unpaid work wearing women down, at home and workplaces

Many any women leave the workforce when they have children, some by choice but mostly because of the "double burden" they bear. Photo: 123rf.com

In support of the 2022 International Women’s Day global collective against discrimination and gender bias, The Star, as chair of the World Editors Forum (Asia Chapter), and in collaboration with its regional media partners, will embark on a year-long initiative to highlight stories that celebrate and promote equality. Go to thestar.com.my for more #breakthebias stories.

Single mother Fione works three or four jobs, which she juggles between caring for her four-year-old child and seeing to the needs of her two older children, aged 14 and 16. Fione isn't able to hold a full time job because there's no one to help her look after her young child – she can't afford daycare and her mum isn't well enough to help with babysitting.

"Every job I take has to work around my schedule with the kids. I drive the older ones to and from school myself because I can't afford to pay transporter or school bus fees. Sometimes, I get good employers who don't mind me taking a little time off to do my chores," shares Fione, 42, a single mother who lives in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Her husband doesn't share the child minding duties with her because "he can't handle it" as he has other children.

"We got divorced in 2016. Even when we were married, he would disappear for many months at a stretch with no contact. I was the one supporting the family," says Fione who currently lives in a room in her parent's home with her three children.

"I do any work that I can get – ironing clothes, small-time catering jobs, transporting children to work, house cleaning... I am willing to do anything.

"During the MCO, it was really hard to get work and so I started making frozen food to sell. I've even worked with a real estate company for a short time, but had to stop because I couldn't work the hours they wanted me to," says Fione who earns an average of RM700 a month, which she says is cukup makan for her small family.

She's grateful for the RM80 food aid basket she receives from the Sabah Women's Action Resource Group (SAWO) as she says it reduces her financial burden.

Fione isn't looking for handouts, she says, "because I can work". But what would really help if there is free or affordable childcare available so that she can work full time and earn better.

Fione's predicament is the norm, rather than the exception, for many women, particularly those with children.

Whether in cities or towns or kampungs, women's ability to work is often reliant on whether they have help with minding their children.

In Malaysia, although the number of girls in higher education institutions is on par with boys, there are less women in the workforce, particularly women who in the 30 and above age cohort.

According to data from the department of statistics (DOSM), women account for just 38.8% of the workforce compared to men (61.2%)

According to World Bank data in 2018, 60% of Malaysian women who left the workforce cited childcare and domestic work as the main reason.

And, the Malaysian Employers Federation's Man-Days Lost and Absenteeism Survey 2019, showed that only 4% out of the 140 respondent companies provide, or set up childcare centres at the workplace, with only 1% providing childcare subsidies or allowances.

The survey also found that “family responsibilities” is the most common reason given by employees for work absenteeism, which is at 94.2%.

Although there are paid childcare and domestic services available that can relieve their burden, many, like Fione, may not be able to afford quality services.

The Malaysian scenario

The proportion of women actively engaged in our labour market varies according to household types: 82% of women in prime working age in one-person households participated in the labour force, only 64% of women in couple-only households are working and just 48% of women – less than half – in couple households with children are in the labour force.

For men, the proportions remain unchanged.

The fact is that many women leave the workforce when they have children, some by choice but mostly because of the "double burden" they bear: Women still carry most of the responsibilities of caring for their children, their elderly family members as well as doing domestic work at home.

This "invisible labour" that women do is a huge barrier to their success in the labour market.

When women and girls are expected to help out around the house, care for children and their elderly, they have less time and opportunities to learn and work.

Globally women shoulder 75% of unpaid care work which in monetary terms potentially contribute US$11trill (RM46trill) to the global economy, according to US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The pandemic, says women's rights activist Omna Seeni-Ong, has only exacerbated the situation.

"Women have disproportionately lost their jobs during the pandemic. The Families of the Edge Report 2020/2021 (UNICEF/UNFPA) reported that 32% of female headed households in their urban low cost households’ were unemployed. But they still need the money because, really, whether you live in a rural or urban setting, a single income is not enough. In the last two years alone, so many become entrepreneurs... we've seen a rise in women entrepreneurs," she says.

But even as entrepreneurs, women tend to run smaller or micro businesses because they still have to tend to their families.

In 2019, out of the 700,000-odd informal sector workers (which include entrepreneurs), 43.7% are women, and 71% are self-employed (small-scale businesses). And, the most vulnerable group are women who are unpaid family workers: according to DOSM there are some 397,000 of them in 2017 (women who help in family businesses but are not paid).

The elephant in the room

According to the World Economic Forum, at the rate things are moving, it will take another 257 years before the world achieves gender parity in economic opportunities and participation.

Progress, according to the WEF and UNDP, has backslided. The Human Development Report's Gender Inequality Index (GII) shows that overall progress in gender equality has slowed down in recent years.

Although women and other disadvantaged groups are catching up with basic achievements (Malaysian women and many women around the world have equal access to school and universities, to vote, and work in different economic areas), they are trailing behind in the workforce.

In the 50 countries where adult women are more educated than men, they still receive on average 39% less income than men, despite devoting more time to work, reports UNDP.

ALSO READ: #BreakTheBias: Working from home is a breeze – for men

The biggest and most persistent barrier, says Omna, is the patriarchy and cultural and social norms.

"It is how society has determined the roles of men and women and these ideas are so entrenched in our thinking. It is the number one problem we have to address and its permutation is seen in all aspects of life... in our families, workplaces and society," she says.

For example, societies often tell their girls that they can become anything they want, while investing in their education. But the same societies tend to block a woman's access to power positions without giving them a fair shot, say researchers of UNDP's Tackling Social Norms (A game changer for gender inequalities) report.

According to the 2020 Gender Index, almost 90% of men and women hold some form of bias against women; about half the world's population feel that men make better political leaders and 40% believe men make better business executives and have more rights to jobs when jobs are scarce.

"This is a social judgement just for being a woman, an invisible barrier and an affront to fairness and meritocracy," the researchers point out.

Lawyer Mona Singaram, 38, says that she became aware of "double standards" that women face even before she joined the workforce. At her very first job interview, she was asked if she had plans to "settle down".

"It was a group interview. There were five of us in the room and I was the only female and the only one asked that question. Being outspoken, I asked the HR person why she didn't pose the same question to the others," says Maya.

"It goes to show how the responsibility of caring for children is seen, unquestionably, as the job of women. And, because of that, women are seen as a liability in the workforce," says Mona.

Marketing executive Celine Tan says she can't recall how many times she's been asked if she's a "working mum" by colleagues, friends and acquaintances at social gatherings.

"But I wonder how many times my husband has been asked if he's a 'working dad'," says Tan, 43. "I tell people that I'm a working woman and my husband and I are both parents. We have to consciously change the script," she says.

According to the Gender Social Norms Index released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), despite decades of effort to close the gender gap, women still face bias, particularly in areas that challenge power relations and are most influential in actually achieving equality.

"Today, the fight for gender equality is a story of bias and prejudices," said Pedro Conceicao, head of UNDP's Human Development Report Office.

We all have a role

Social norms are central to why women face so many barriers, and many of these biases are invisible because they are entrenched in our beliefs.

If we are to #BreakTheBias, it has to start at home, says Omna, who is the founder of Engender Consultancy, a social enterprise that promotes gender equality and women's empowerment.

"We are seeing more families who are sharing responsibilities now not because of a shift in social norms but because they need the dual income. We don't have the data but the balance may shift because of need: Families need dual income so husbands have to play bigger role in the home.

And maybe, social norms will have to be re-conceptualised as a result," opines Omna.

But there are tangible steps that Government and corporations can take to remove the barriers women face.

In an APPGM-SDG (All Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Sustainable Development Goals) research, single mother participants expressed concern about the the absence of formal support from the government.

A participant from Sabah said: "Why can’t we have agencies or childcare facilities for children of working single mothers? The facilities should not be only for the single mothers working for government agencies.

They should also cater to working single mothers who could not afford private childcare services. The mothers can’t just leave their children"

Says Omna: "Budget 2021 provided RM5,000 support to each childcare centre to assist with the cost of operations; increased the tax exemption rate for childcare enrolment to RM3,000 and provided RM800 vouchers for babysitters. Budget 2022 also provided tax exemption for childcare.

However, the tax exemption won’t work for groups that most need this aid such as the B40 families or unemployed individuals who don't pay tax.

The vouchers for babysitters will not cover their monthly commitments and these struggling families require it the most to free up time for income-generating work," says Omna.

Another problem is the case of ibu tinggal, women who are single mothers because their spouses have absconded.

"There are two types of women-led households - ibu tunggal are women who are divorced or widowed but ibu tinggal are women who are still married but abandoned by their husbands. They find themselves not eligible for many of the allocations for single mothers and have a hard time navigating the system," says Omna.

Currently children care is provided by some government agencies or government linked companies. The provision in private sector is dismal.

Subsidised childcare is also provided by two main agencies - Tabika Perpaduan (1,700 centres) by the Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Integrasi Nasional (JPNIN) which provides childcare and early childhood education for urban and semi-urban areas and Tabika Transit Kemas (after school childcare facility) by the Rural Development Ministry which provides childcare and early childhood education for rural areas.

But, there needs to be more of such centres and they need to be more accessible.

"We need accessible community based childcare by expanding Tabika Perpaduan and Tabika Transit Kemas for B40 urban and rural communities in PPR and low cost housing areas. The centres should be based on ratio of centre to population.

For example, there are only two Tabika Perpaduan in Lembah Subang which is a densely populated low cost housing area, which can only accommodate a fraction of the real population of children," she says,

Other measures to help the situation would include increasing National Budget allocations to related ministries, providing universal childcare for B40 families and largely subsided fees and facilitate women’s economic participation in communities that have community based childcare.

"The government should also conduct programmes on income generating and entrepreneurial skills training and do job placements for women in the B40 communities. Monitoring and learning from such an initiative can be valuable to expand the childcare and female economic participation model across the country," concludes Omna.