Sexist economies are fuelling the inequality crisis further by putting the heavy and unequal responsibility of care work on women.—AFP
The international development charity Oxfam published its annual report on global inequality, outlining how the phenomenon is shockingly entrenched and vast, enabling a wealthy elite to accumulate vast fortunes at the expense of ordinary people, particularly women and girls who provide unpaid — and underpaid — care work.
According to the report, the world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 per cent of the planet’s population. With the number of billionaires having doubled in the last decade, our sexist economies are fuelling this inequality crisis further by putting a heavy and disproportionate responsibility of care work on women.
Women do more than three-quarters of all unpaid care work; they often have to work reduced hours or drop out of the workforce because of their care workload. According to the report, across the globe, 42 percent of women of working age cannot get jobs because they are responsible for all the caregiving, compared to just six percent of men.
The report lists recommendations to “close the gap between care workers and the wealthy elite who have profited most from their labour”, from ending extreme wealth to challenging harmful norms and sexist beliefs by building an economy that values what truly matters to society.
Relevance for Pakistan
Speaking to Dawn.com, Country Director Oxfam Pakistan, Muhammad Qazilbash, said, "The global inequality report especially resonates in Pakistan because we see inequality being on the rise. In our country, domestic workers' actual expense and cost of living far exceed the minimum wage they are given. But what's worse is that there is a lack of recognition about this."
Qazilbash continues, "About 60% of our country's agriculture is dependent on women, but the wages they receive during harvest season is not reflective of the labour and effort they put into their work. Additionally, when they go back home they have to cook, clean and take care of their children. There's an extra burden on them only because they are women."
"The financial provider can concentrate on being productive and getting the pay-cheque because things are sorted at home and they don't have to worry. Sadly, domestic work and the management of the house is not considered 'work' in our society. Here, we don't realise that the actions have value."
"The report's relevance for us is that we need to recognise and acknowledge how we perpetuate economic and gender inequalities. At the same time, we need to learn to value under-appreciated work of domestic labourers, domestic workers and caregivers."
Here are key highlights from Time to Care — Unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis:
Billionaires and extreme wealth are signs of a failing economy
Examining the origins of the wealth of the super-rich, and how that wealth is deployed, casts serious doubt on their value to our economy and our society. It also shows how their wealth is built on billions of hours of exploitative underpaid and unpaid care work, which is mainly done by women and people from ethnic minorities.