On
May 8, the Network for Economic Development (NEDM),
a sub-group of the Human Resources Development Working
Group of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum, hosted a conference in Hong Kong on the linkages
between paid and unpaid work and their implications
for human resources policy. This article draws on
a paper prepared for the conference by North-South
Institute (NSI) Senior Researcher Heather Gibb.
Women make up
from 29 to 49 percent of the formal labour force in
APEC member countries. They also make an enormous
contribution to the economy and the well–being
of their communities through their unpaid work in
the home and as volunteers. According to the United
Nations Development Programme, as much time is spent
on unpaid work as on paid work in industrialized countries.
The value of that work ranges from 15 percent of gross
domestic product in the case of Japan to 54 percent
in Australia. Statistics Canada reports that women
do two-thirds of all unpaid work in Canada: for one
in four it's a full-time job.
Women
do two-thirds of all unpaid work in Canada: for
one in four it's a full-time job.
Women also make up the bulk of workers in the informal
sector, which, for many, is the sole source of employment
and income. And that sector is growing as a result of
economic recession, reduced job opportunities in the
formal sector, and an increased need for family income.
Work in the informal sector also allows women to combine
family responsibilities with income generation since
it can often be performed in or near the home.
Invisible
work
Unpaid and informal sector work, however, is
largely uncounted in labour force and national income
accounts. As a result, it remains statistically invisible
and, despite its importance, is generally ignored in
national human resource and economic policies.
This has serious consequences. For women, who perform
a disproportionate amount of unpaid and informal work,
the time spent on these tasks constrains them from availing
themselves of training and education opportunities and
from participating in formal, paid labour which is protected
by labour, wage, health, and safety regulations. It
thus can affect their health and well–being.
Social institutions suffer when the total demands on
work time—paid and unpaid—become so great
there is no time left for volunteer or civic activities.
A recent study carried out in Nova Scotia, for instance,
found that people under financial or time stress first
cut back on voluntary commitments. And while the number
of people volunteering in Canada increased between 1987
and 1997, the average volunteer contributed 25 percent
fewer hours than a decade earlier. The value of this
loss in services has been estimated at $1.83 billion
a year.
Studies
have shown that the number of unpaid family workers
in Southeast Asia increased in the wake of the financial
crisis.
The consequences are also felt throughout the economy
as women and men move in and out of the paid labour
market as a result of retrenchments and firings, to
pursue education and training, and because of family
responsibilities. In periods of economic decline, parts
of the informal sector expand because, without comprehensive
employment insurance or other safety nets, few can afford
the luxury of being unemployed for very long. Studies
have shown, for instance, that the number of unpaid
family workers in Southeast Asia increased in the wake
of the financial crisis.
Even in developed economies, the unpaid sector expands
when the paid sector contracts. There is often a price
to be paid for these structural changes. Economist Diane
Elson argues that the intensification and extension
of unpaid labour is a hidden factor in many episodes
of stabilization and structural adjustment. Unpaid labour
can help absorb the shocks of adjustment since it replaces
paid labour in the production of daily necessities,
such as food and clothing. But unpaid work can also
jeopardize the ability of the labour force to take advantage
of opportunities in the formal job market.
Global
industry, global problems
The
problems noted in the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum (APEC) studies are all too
well represented in the global garment industry
that employs women both in factories and as
home-based workers. As North-South Institute
(NSI) Researcher Julie Delahanty and Mashuda
Khatun Shefali of Bangladesh's Nari Uddug Kendra
(NUK), note in “From Social Movements to
Social Causes: Assessing Local, National, and
International Strategies for Improving Women's
Health and Labour Conditions in the Garment
Sector,” global economic restructuring
has increased the opportunities for women to
enter the marketplace. But, they say, it has
also created “ghettos” of women labourers
caught in low-skilled, low-waged jobs where
poor working conditions endanger their health
and well-being.
Joint research conducted by the NSI and NUK
revealed that women in Bangladesh's garment
industry work between 11 and 16 hours a day,
seven days a week—while continuing to bear
the lion's share of household chores and childrearing.
Women are responsible for finding their own
housing, which is scarce and sometimes insecure.
They often have no access to even basic utilities
and toilet facilities. Travel to and from factories
is dangerous. Wages are so low that workers
frequently find it difficult to buy enough food
for themselves and their families. Finally,
when they are no longer capable of factory work,
there are few options for alternative employment.
Perhaps most significant, 66 percent of workers
stated their health had declined since beginning
factory work. Complaints include respiratory
difficulties; repetitive strain injury; gastric
ulcers; weakness and lethargy; back, joint and
chest pain; urinary tract infections; and eye
problems.
Among solutions offered for improving garment
workers' working conditions are partnerships
between nongovernmental organizations and the
private sector; increasing worker organization
activities, including union outreach; supporting
capacity-building and the provision of services
through international development projects;
trade mechanisms such as linking preferential
tariffs to labour conditions; and organizing
consumer campaigns to advance workers' rights.
The paper “From Social Movements to
Social Causes: Assessing Local, National, and
International Strategies for Improving Women's
Health and Labour Conditions in the Garment
Sector,” by Julie Delahanty and Mashuda
Khatun Shefali, was presented to the International
Roundtable on Responses to Globalization: Rethinking
Equity and Health, organized by the Society
for International Development (SID) and the
World Health Organization in Geneva, July 12-14.
It will appear in the December issue of Development,
published by SID.
|
On the APEC agenda
APEC members are beginning to recognize the
importance of women's unpaid work. In October 1998,
APEC ministers responsible for women called on governments
to recognize the economic significance of this work.
By identifying major issues in integrating paid and
unpaid work, the nine country studies prepared as part
of the project undertaken by the NEDM will contribute
to understanding the key sectors of the economy where
women predominate. They will also help understand how
workers' family obligations affect their participation
in training and employment and identify the policy supports—including
social safety nets—that would facilitate their
participation.
The NEDM researchers and experts note that governments'
recognition of the value of unpaid work could enhance
women's economic security. This could be done through
measures such as tax credits for caregivers which, in
turn would enable them to contribute to pension plans
and take advantage of other government programs. Health,
safety, and social security benefits could be extended
to informal sector workers. Governments could also encourage
banks to recognize unpaid work as collateral for loans,
thereby providing an important bridge for unpaid workers
to move into micro- and small businesses.
The project identified a number of steps for governments
to consider, including:
- Reform of
the tax system and social security policies to eliminate
the concept of the sole breadwinner in a two-adult
family;
- Maternity,
paternity, and childcare leave for both women and
men;
- Provision
of family-friendly workplaces and social support
structures;
- Provision
of quality, affordable child– and elder-care
services;
- Financial
support of enterprises, such as tax rebates, to
encourage them to provide social services for employees.
A key step for
governments is clarifying the assumptions and principles
about families that shape economic and social policy.
Understanding how policy can reinforce gender disadvantage
or promote equal access to the productive economy
is important to successful human resource strategies. 
The full
text of the conference papers can be found on the
APEC Secretariat website at http://www.apecsec.org.sg/hrd/hrd.asp.
The NSI will publish a summary document of the conference
later in 1999.
