Wash dirty clothes, hang out, fold clothes, iron and put them away, sweep the house, remove dust, clean the floor and bathroom, take out the trash, organize closets, water plants, shop, put away groceries, prepare food, wash dishes.
Bathe, dress and comb the child, feed the child, take the child to school, pick up the child from school, take the child or elderly person to the doctor, buy medicines and give them to the child or elderly person, take them B .for exams, vaccinations or medical treatment, playing with the child, studying with the child, taking the elderly person to the bank.
Feed the pet, clean up the pet’s mess, take the pet to the vet or take the pet for a walk, pay the household bills, check whether clothes, shoes or school supplies need to be purchased for the child, go to the parents’ meeting School .
These are some examples of the care economy: a series of domestic tasks and efforts with relatives (children, the elderly, the sick or people with disabilities) that must be carried out so that everyone can fulfill and fulfill their role in society.
However, there is a factor of discrimination in this care economy: 65% of the work is done by women. According to researchers at FGV Ibre (Brazilian Institute of Economic Sciences of the Getulio Vargas Foundation), this effort, if calculated, would increase the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) by at least 8.5%.
Overall, the care industry, including tasks performed by men, accounts for 13% of GDP.
The topic gained prominence last Sunday (5) when Enem (National High School Examination) proposed as an essay topic “Challenges in overcoming the invisibility of care work carried out by women in Brazil”.
“In our patriarchal and sexist society, caring has always been a women’s job, while men are responsible for work,” says economist Hildete Pereira de Melo, master in production engineering and doctor of industrial economics and technology.
The economy of care is essential for the wellbeing of everyone and for the functioning of the social mechanism, but it is not valued, says Hildete, professor at the Faculty of Economics of the UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense) and editor of Revista Gênero.
“Worse still, it serves to restrict women’s right to a better quality of life and career advancement. Your free time is dedicated to others,” he says.
In December 2007, Hildete and two other researchers economists Claudio Considera and Alberto Di Sabbato published the article “Housework Matters!”, in which they calculated the number of hours spent on household tasks as reported in the Pnad (National Research for Household). , sample used as a basis) of men and women.
At that time, this number of hours was multiplied by the average income of the domestic worker. The conclusion is that time spent caring for home and family averaged 11.2% of GDP between 2001 and 2005.
In October of this year, Hildete, Considera and FGV researcher Ibre Isabela Duarte Kelly updated the study to include data from Pnad Continua between 2016 and 2022. The figure was reached on average at least 13% of Brazil’s GDP when working with the house and the family was paid.
The number is considered an underestimate because in the calculations the researchers multiplied the hours spent on invisible work by the pay for housework, one of the lowest in the country. Women devote an average of 21.3 hours per week to the care industry. Men spend 11.1 hours.
Other care jobs such as teachers, nannies and carers are paid more than domestic workers, which would increase the value of invisible work and therefore the share of GDP it represents.
However, the IBGE question in Pnad Continua does not indicate how much time is spent on housework and how much is spent caring for people, which prevents more accurate accounting, says Considera, former director of Ipea (Institute for Applied Economic Research) and Coordinator of the Center for National Accounts at FGV Ibre.
The increase from 11.2% to 13% of GDP between the two periods is due to increases in domestic workers’ pay, according to the researchers.
“This is obviously not about proposing compensation to the mother, daughter, sister or any other woman in the family who looks after the home and the people living in it,” says Considera.
“But it should be noted that their work is so relevant that it represents an important part of the country’s economy. It is time dedicated to others that needs to be better shared with other family members.”
There are also indirect costs. According to researcher Isabela Duarte Kelly, women who are overloaded with housework and caring for others not only affect their own quality of life, but also lose opportunities for career advancement.
“As an employee, she doesn’t have the same time and travel freedom as a male colleague because she has to take care of the household,” says Isabela.
According to the researcher, it is most common for women to choose parttime jobs or jobs that they can do at home to balance care activities. “She usually earns less in these jobs.”
This is the case of Viviane Gil Brandão, 47. Her day starts at 5 a.m. and doesn’t end until 11 p.m. Viviane is the mother of Davi, 11, and lives separately from his father. She studied marketing and social work, but works as a hairdresser in her living room to balance her job with caring for David and the household. It also supports parents when they are sick. She doesn’t have time to take care of herself.
“I rest during the cutting and sewing class that I attend in the morning,” jokes Viviane.
On Monday and Wednesday afternoons, she stops serving customers to take her son to soccer school. “He loves it,” he says. “But on the other hand, I spend all Saturday working, sometimes Sunday too.”
Viviane, the only woman among three brothers, says her mother also entrusted her sons with household chores. “But the biggest challenge was mine,” he remembers.
“Today I teach my son how to wash the dishes, make the bed and even greet my customers. I tell him he needs to learn how to take care of his house with his wife.”
The FGV Ibre study showed that discrimination varies depending on the region of the country.
“Women in the Northeast are the ones who dedicate the most time to caregiving: 22.3 hours per week, compared to 10.9 hours for men,” says Hildete.
In the Midwest, both women and men devote less time to caregiving: 18.7 and 9.8 hours per week, respectively.
In Brazil, men’s salaries are on average 26.8% higher than women’s. However, by region, states in the North and Northeast have the smallest gender pay gaps: 13.1% and 14.5%, in that order. “They are also the federal states with the lowest average salaries,” says Hildete.
The south has the largest salary gap: R$3,504 for men and R$2,639 for women, a difference of 33%.
The more education, the more income and outsourcing of care
As women improve their education levels, the time they have to spend on housework and family care decreases.
According to the study, women with no or incomplete primary education devote 23.3 hours per week to caregiving, compared to 18 hours for women with completed higher education.
“It is possible that women who have studied more earn more and can outsource some of the care tasks for a fee,” says Hildete.
Experts point out that in addition to the structural machismo in society, the state is able to provide some of this care, with fullday daycare centers and schools, as well as public nursing homes, which are currently rare in Brazil.
“For women who have to work on Saturdays and Sundays, it is necessary to ensure fulltime schools and daycare centers that also offer services on weekends,” says Isabela.
Another problem is related to maternity leave: Today, Brazilian law provides 120 days for mothers and only five days for fathers although a parental leave law provides 120 days for each caregiver.
“As soon as the state itself assumes that caring for the child in the first months of life is the sole responsibility of the mother, this only reinforces stereotypes,” says the researcher.
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