Gender Inequality in Housework and Care 1

Gender Inequality in Housework and Care

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 Gender Inequality in Housework and Care 2

Introduction
Despite the rise of modernity, women still face gender-based discrimination in society. This
is evidenced across the globe where many women still experience sexism and gender
discrimination. Many challenges are faced by women and girls, Such as gender-based
violence, early marriages, unemployment, and limited access to education, rooted in gender
inequality. Every individual in society dreams of equal rights and treatment but there is a lot
of discrimination.
Gender inequality as defined by Lorber is a sociological phenomenon where gender
determines how people are treated differently. The biological gender difference is the cause
of disparity in how different genders are treated. Though some of these divisions have
practical support, others seem to be social constructs (Lorber, 2001). Gender inequality is a
situation in which gender defines uneven prospects and rights for men and women; it may be
legal, cultural, or social; it is defined by expectations in stereotypical roles that are
determined by culture and society. From Lorber’s definition, gender disparity is the social
and cultural perceptions made based on a person's biological sex. Thus, related to the gender
roles concept which determines how society views a person's behavior and attitude depending
on whether they are male or female.
Gender inequality is symbolized and reproduced in daily housework and care. According to
Hochschild and Machung, gender ideology created by society has an influence division of
housework and care at home (Hochschild and Machung, 1989, pg.2). This is exactly what
Arlie Hochschild and Anne Machung observed when they conducted in-depth interviews and
home visits with 50 working couples who were caring for children under the age of six.
These two researchers examined whether there was any balance between tasks related to
professions, domestic duties, and raising children. Most of the women who were questioned
in this regard appeared to struggle more than their husbands between work and family
(Hochschild & Machung, 1989, pg.2). Their opinion is reinforced by Craig and Mullan’s
assessments, that in today’s many households, fathers and mothers still share childcare
inequitably. They argue that a variety of factors, including beliefs about gender and the
family, pay discrepancies, class, and social context, contribute to the persistent gendered
division of childcare (Craig & Mullan, 2021, pg.53). This is evidenced in the research by the
National Centre for Social Research in 2021, on full-time working mums vs. full-time
working dads; women spend 76 minutes per day on childcare while men spend 43 minutes
per day on childcare (“Week 14: Gender division of labor within households”). Men have
long viewed women as domestic housekeepers who must take care of the home and children.
Such prejudice paved the way for gender inequality.
The subject of gender equality is said to elicit the most debates and opposing viewpoints.
Men and women have equal rights and obligations, according to some, but others claim there
is no such thing as sexual equality. This paper discusses and offers ways to address traditional
and cultural norms, gender stereotypes, employment inequality, and lack of leadership and
support as the biggest barriers to achieving equality in the division of housework and care.
Gender roles are one of the main causes of discrimination in society. Although both paid and
unpaid care work is necessary for our well-being, it can be exploitative due to its unequal
distribution across genders and classes. Women find it more challenging to get the resources
and services they need to take care of their households when they live in poverty. Collecting
firewood and water, as well as taking care of a sick family member, takes more of their time
and effort and can be a physically taxing task job (Allen et al, 2019, pg.9). Even though men
and boys do engage in both paid and unpaid care work, women and girls carry out the
majority of this.
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Women continue to take care of their households even after a full day of laboring in factories
or on agricultural fields. The disproportionate amount of voluntary housework and care
performed by women jeopardizes their right to good employment. There might not be enough
time in the day for paid labor due to the time and effort required for cooking, cleaning,
gathering water, and providing the special care needed for young children, the old, and the
unwell. Due to this, women are confined to poverty and are frequently dependent on men in
the household for their financial support. To balance their paid work with caring for their
children and other unpaid caregiving responsibilities, women who live in poverty may seek
out more insecure forms of employment, such as home-based work or small-scale commerce.
A woman's choices of a paid job are controlled by the uneven sharing of unpaid labor on
them (Allen et al, 2019, pg.9). The stages of their lifecycles are the other significant element
impacting women's engagement in respectable employment. Young, single, or recently wed
women are more likely to be employed in paid jobs. Nonetheless, many women leave the
labor force or look for more adaptable, part-time occupations as their family duties rise as a
result of marriage or having children. Most women who work at home or nearby have young
children, siblings, or aging parents. When women work long hours for minimal pay, unpaid
caregiving is transferred to younger or older women who are not employed. Hence, when
women work for pay in these circumstances, it just transfers their unpaid caregiving
responsibilities to other women in the home or community. The division of labor at home has
gotten less consideration than the division of labor in paid employment, although being just
as important. Couples must balance competing demands from the family and work sectors as
a result of the rising participation of women in the workforce.
Traditional and cultural norms create barriers to achieving equality in the division of
housework and care. Gender socialization clearly interacts with sociocultural ideals and
practices. This only partially explains why women's household tasks and obligations are
consistently prioritized over public ones in many emerging societies. In many situations that
are considered to be socially conservative, this is strongly related to the requirement of
marriage. In the past, paid and unpaid work was traditionally separated by gender. Males
served as the household's primary wage earners and received a paycheck, and women worked
mostly in domestic duties and were dependent on their husbands (McMunn, 2020, pg. 158).
Opportunities for women and men are influenced by social institutions, such as traditional
gender roles and beliefs, just as much as they are by the circumstances of the communities
and nations in which they reside. The decisions, choices, and behaviors of groups,
communities, and individuals are shaped or constrained by social institutions including
formal and informal laws, social norms, and practices. Married couples who don't follow the
conventional allocation of income may be seen as deviating from the tradition by both
themselves and others. What may be taking place is that when males earn less than women,
couples counterbalance this by upholding more traditional gender roles in the home. In other
words, wives do more housework and husbands do less to balance out this 'abnormal'
scenario.
Gender stereotyping is a barrier as gender roles are shaped during the early childhood period.
Due to established norms and opinions around the position and purpose of females in society,
these stereotypes remain into adolescence and adulthood. The unequal gender distribution of
children's unpaid household labor has substantial effects on their well-being. It restricts girls'
time for leisure, personal growth, and learning, depriving them of equal possibilities to
succeed. These exclusions and lost opportunities will have a lasting impact on a girl's life,
possibly affecting her socioeconomic prospects, decisions, and successes as an adult as well
as the welfare of her children, should she choose to become a mother. Boys may have a
distorted perception of the worth of girls' vs. boys' time and grow up to perform limited roles
as fathers and caretakers, among other effects that are likely to occur (Samtleben & Müller,
2022, pg.77). These beliefs can hinder a person's capacity to discover their skills and make
 Gender Inequality in Housework and Care 4

wise choices in their daily lives Gender equality is affected by the reinforcement of such
negative preconceptions.
Gender stereotypes are another major obstacle to attaining equity in the sharing of care and
household duties (McMunn, 2020, pg. 157) These assumptions, which are engrained in our
societal and cultural standards, frequently state that males should handle paid labor outside
the home while women should handle domestic duties and childcare. Here are some tactics to
help resolve this problem. Families so frequently assign chores to one another in an
extremely outdated manner when it comes to home duties without even realizing it. Usually,
girls handle domestic duties like cleaning the dishes and setting the table, but boys tend to do
more strenuous chores like mowing the yard or scaling ladders to change lightbulbs. A
rotating schedule for household duties will allow everyone to try their hand at everything.
Both girls and boys will benefit from learning these skills because you'll be able to
demonstrate to them that work is labor, regardless of who you are.
Employment inequality prevents the fair distribution of housework and care. The transition of
women's labor from the home to the workplace has influenced how gender disparity has
changed over time. Gender inequality is easily noticeable in the workplace. For instance,
women who work full-time only make up around 80% of what males do, and they are still
underrepresented in the highest-paying professions (Okereke, 2020, pg.66). According to
González and Floro a new indicator created by the International Labor Organization,
women's employment opportunities, working conditions, and the wage gap have barely
changed over the previous 20 years (González & Floro, 2022, pg.111). According to the
descriptive statistics, women were more likely than men to be unemployed or
underemployed. The probate regression demonstrates that the chance of being unemployed or
underemployed was still greater among females even after accounting for variations in
personal and household factors (González & Floro, 2022, pg.109). Because of their
commitments to their families, women are frequently seen as being less serious about finding
wage jobs than males. When a work offer conflicts with a woman's obligations to her family,
she is more likely to reject it. Employers, on the other hand, could be reluctant to hire women
because they believe that, despite their human capital traits, women especially married
women are less adaptable, less mobile, or less capable. Vulnerable employment is common
for both men and women, but women tend to be overrepresented in particular types of
vulnerable occupations. Males are more likely to work in own-account employment than
females, who are more likely to assist in families or family enterprises. Unemployment on
other hand gives both men and women more time to do more chores. However, women may
take on more additional chores than men do once they lose their jobs, either because they use
this time to play out traditional gender roles or because unemployment worsens women's
already disadvantaged position in domestic bargaining. When unemployed, both men and
women do more chores (Gimenez & Alberto, 2022 pg. 104). Nonetheless, compared to
unemployed males, women have a greater amount of additional home duties
There are several approaches to solving these barriers. The traditional and cultural barriers
can be addressed by promoting education and increasing awareness. Education and
awareness-raising campaigns can support efforts to question gender stereotypes and
emphasize the value of a just division of labor. Culture is a complex concept that
encompasses values, norms, rules, information, and customs that are socially shared by
members of a community (Bullough et al, 2022, pg. 985-996). They are either passed down
through an ethnic group, clans, or families across generations. For instance, a person's culture
consists of all of the experiences they have had as a result of learning from their ancestors
how to relate and behave. Most ethnic groups' cultural practices are characterized by
patriarchal structures that uphold the privileges and supposed superiority of men. Women
 Gender Inequality in Housework and Care 5

herein must be taught and encouraged to use their voice, influence, and ability to access
resources and make decisions that will improve their fate as victims of social inequality.
Achieving equity in the sharing of care and household duties can be hampered by
employment disparity. Due to issues like the gender pay gap, few prospects for career
growth, and a lack of access to flexible work schedules, which can make it challenging for
them to manage work and caregiving obligations, women are frequently at a disadvantage in
the workforce (Socha, 2021). This may cause women to bear an unfair share of the
responsibility for caregiving and household duties, which may further entrench gender
inequality in other spheres of society. To address this barrier, there is a need for encouraging
a gender-inclusive workplace atmosphere while defining the best approach to equal pay for
equal work for both genders. In order to help women manage their work and caregiving
duties, employers should additionally offer flexible work options like job sharing,
telecommuting, and flexible schedules. Governments can also promote women's
entrepreneurship, employment, and increased income through initiatives in agriculture, trade,
and finance, as well as through collaborations with the private sector. This would improve
gender equality and women's economic empowerment. With a focus on gender equity, they
should aim to improve youth access to training, funding, entrepreneurship, and formal
employment.
Lack of leadership and support hinders fair division of housework and care responsibilities.
The majority of leaders are aware of the challenges faced by women and are convinced of the
advantages of promoting gender parity, but frequently they are unsure of what to do. The idea
of gender equality is not the same for men and women. Women's and households' choices to
engage in and remain in the labor force can be influenced by policies that specifically address
the problems they encounter. For instance, providing childcare and enacting family-friendly
laws with adaptable work schedules encourage women to enter and remain in the workforce
(Dao, 2019). Unfortunately, there is no political mentorship and goodwill to support such
proposals.
Women who pursue careers as formal leaders will encounter numerous challenges in both
their careers and homes. This dualistic opinion on gender roles is defined by the argument
that, if a woman chooses to stay at home, the courage to choose a job must unquestionably be
backed by adequate competence. Nonetheless, a career requires a woman to have a strong
will and focus; qualities that were not traditionally expected of women. Consequently,
women do not always possess boldness. Real-world manifestations of ambition, confidence
in one's ability to lead, and efforts to achieve success are built on a set of ethics and morals
that women do not inherently possess. She can be competent, ambitious, and successful by
keeping in mind her domestic responsibilities and collaborating with men. When a woman
leads, people notice her maturity in handling the issues she encounters, especially if she is
qualified for the position she holds without sacrificing her femininity. As a leader, women
frequently encounter resistance from societal attitudes because men traditionally serve as
protectors and family heads. The same is true of physical challenges when women are
undervalued due to their inability to carry out demanding tasks (Chung & Van der Lippe,
2020, pg. 368). The government should develop policies with the assistance of women's
organizations on how to enhance female leadership in all spheres of national and international
life. As a result, female leadership will serve as a partner to male leadership, and women will
undoubtedly play a role in the nation's and the country's development. There won't be any
gender segregation in efforts or commitment to the nation's progress and ideas when women
hold positions and positions of leadership that are equivalent to those of males in the future.
Lack of leadership is a major obstacle to attaining equity in the sharing of care and
housekeeping. It can be challenging to alter societal and cultural conventions that uphold
traditional gender roles and expectations without strong backing and leadership ((Pološki et
 Gender Inequality in Housework and Care 6

al, 2019, pg. 78). This challenge can be addressed by encouraging leadership and role
modeling: Leaders in a variety of societal arenas, including those in the government,
business, and community organizations, should provide a positive example for others and
endeavor to foster an environment where everyone shares responsibility for household duties
and care. This can entail modeling an equitable division of labor in their own lives as well as
vociferously campaigning for laws that assist families and advance gender equality.
Additionally, governments and employers should support caregivers by offering benefits like
parental leave, flexible work schedules, and reasonably priced childcare. This can lessen the
load of caregiving and make it possible for both men and women to juggle their careers and
family obligations. Supporting grassroots, national, and international advocacy and
communication initiatives is necessary to present the case for gender equality as a strategic
goal that will benefit all parties.
Conclusion

Gender inequality affects both males and females. Although having made significant progress
toward gender equality, people still have to deal with it regularly because it still exists in both
the business and the home. Millions of women struggle to obtain various jobs, earn a fair
wage, or split childcare and housework duties with their partners. Without a shift in societal
attitudes, the issue will undoubtedly continue. To reduce gender disparity, it is important to
take into account the perceptions, preferences, and priorities of both sexes. Because all
genders have an equal chance to be valuable, nothing is "just male" or "only female." When
compared to earlier times, we now have a more balanced perspective on generations and
judgments. Gender diversity would undoubtedly support innovation and more equitable
growth in the future. We must promote a favorable image of women and take all necessary
steps to elevate their status in our society. To support gender equality in the division of
domestic work and care, society should balance its thinking and judgment. Accepting gender
diversity enables us to influence the future. Because there are still some challenges that need
to be resolved on a societal level, gender equality at home has not yet been entirely attained.
The outdated ideas, conceptions, and ways of thinking need to be changed by both men and
women.
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