#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

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.