Daily Current Affairs : 1-August-2023
In recent news, the Tamil Nadu government took a significant step towards acknowledging and valuing the unpaid labour of women by launching the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam (Women’s Basic Income Scheme). The scheme aims to provide a monthly allowance of ₹1,000 to eligible women in households. Women’s unpaid labour refers to the multitude of domestic and care work responsibilities that women disproportionately bear, which often go unrecognized and unrewarded.
Understanding Women’s Unpaid Labour
Women’s unpaid labour encompasses various household-specific tasks, including cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, household management, grocery shopping, child care, and caring for sick or elderly family members. These essential duties require time, effort, and emotional investment, yet they are not monetarily compensated.
Challenges in Measuring and Compensating Women’s Unpaid Work
- Measuring Unpaid Work: One of the primary challenges in recognizing women’s unpaid care work is assigning a value to tasks that involve emotions and personal connections. For instance, valuing a parent’s care for their child in terms of a market wage is complex and often subjective.
- Binary View of Labour: The traditional categorization of labour into ‘economic’ and ‘non-economic’ can be limiting. It relies on notions of productivity, considering only the work that is accounted for and paid as economically valuable, while overlooking essential but unpaid tasks.
- Identifying What Counts as Work: Women often undertake productive unpaid tasks, such as tending to fields or tending to cattle, which are considered household chores and thus go unreported and unrecognized.
- Reinforcing Stereotypes: Providing compensation for housework may inadvertently perpetuate the stereotype that housework is solely women’s responsibility, potentially discouraging their participation in other paid jobs.
- Confusion about Compensation Providers: Demands for husbands to pay wives for housework can be criticized for reinforcing patriarchal norms, with implications that the men ‘own’ the housework.
Proposed Solutions
To address these challenges and recognize the value of women’s unpaid labour, a carefully designed, state-supported policy is essential. Some potential solutions include:
- Assigning Value to Domestic and Care Work: Develop methods to assess the value of domestic and care work, not only to justify monetary compensation but also to reclaim the dignity of such work.
- Using Time as a Valuing Measure: The government should consider accounting for the non-market household economy, recognizing the time and effort invested in unpaid tasks.
- Gender-Neutral Income Transfer: Implement a state-supported gender-neutral income transfer at the household level, rather than a direct transfer from husband to wife, to avoid reinforcing gender stereotypes.
- Universal Maternity Entitlements and Childcare: Universalize maternity entitlements and childcare services as public goods, relieving women of the overwhelming burden of care work and allowing them to pursue other opportunities.
- Investment in Public Infrastructure and Services: Investing in essential infrastructure and services such as water, sanitation, roads, energy, and healthcare can significantly reduce women’s workload and improve overall living conditions.
Important Points:
- The Tamil Nadu government launched the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam, a basic income scheme, to recognize and value women’s unpaid labour.
- Women’s unpaid labour refers to domestic and care work, including cooking, cleaning, childcare, and caring for the sick or elderly, which often goes unrewarded.
- Challenges in measuring and compensating women’s unpaid work include the difficulty of assigning a value to emotional care work and the binary categorization of labour.
- Women often undertake productive unpaid tasks, which are considered household chores and remain unreported and unrecognized.
- Compensating women for housework may reinforce stereotypes and hinder their participation in other paid jobs.
- A carefully designed state-supported policy is needed to recognize the value of women’s unpaid labour and reclaim the dignity of such work.
- Time can be used as a valuing measure to account for the non-market household economy.
- Gender-neutral income transfers at the household level should be considered instead of direct transfers from husbands to wives.
- Universalizing maternity entitlements and childcare services can relieve women of the burden of care work and provide them with more opportunities.
- Investing in public infrastructure and services like water, sanitation, roads, energy, and healthcare can reduce women’s workload and improve living conditions.
Why In News
Recognizing the invaluable contributions of women’s unpaid labor, the Tamil Nadu government took a significant step towards empowerment by launching the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam (Women’s basic income scheme). By providing ₹1,000 per month to eligible women in households, this initiative not only acknowledges their crucial role in society but also seeks to alleviate financial burdens and foster greater gender equality.
MCQs about Empowering Women’s Unpaid Labour
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What does the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam aim to do?
A. Provide financial support to men in eligible households.
B. Recognize and value women’s unpaid labour.
C. Encourage women to join the labor force.
D. Fund childcare centers in Tamil Nadu.
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What are some challenges in measuring and compensating women’s unpaid work?
A. Assigning emotional value to care work.
B. Categorizing labour into ‘economic’ and ‘non-economic.’
C. Identifying productive household tasks.
D. Promoting gender-neutral income transfer.
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What potential solution is suggested to value domestic and care work adequately?
A. Universalizing maternity entitlements.
B. Investing in public infrastructure and services.
C. Implementing a gender-neutral income transfer.
D. Developing methods to assess the value of the work.
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What impact might compensating housework have on gender roles?
A. Reinforce stereotypes and discourage women from other paid jobs.
B. Encourage men to take on household responsibilities.
C. Promote gender equality in society.
D. Have no effect on gender roles.
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