"Domestic gender disparity" limits women's choices

In the coming months, the 12,000 employees at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Will move to an extravagant new campus of 260,000 square meters. In the place, nicknamed "spacecraft", there will be a two-story yoga hall, running trails and even some revolutionary pizza boxes that keep it crispy. But something is missing: no childcare.
Apple is not alone in ignoring the importance of child care for working parents. And this omission makes it extremely difficult for parents (especially women) to reach their full economic potential.
Throughout the world, women do twice as much domestic work and unpaid personal care (such as raising children, caring for sick or elderly relatives and running the house) than men. In Mexico, India and Turkey, the difference is triple.
This "domestic gender disparity" limits women's choices by making it difficult for them to access formal education, get good jobs, and earn equal pay for men. In fact, despite the fact that, in total, women worldwide work more than men (totaling paid and free labor), they earn on average three quarters, occupy only one in four executive positions in the private sector and Less than a quarter of all seats in national parliaments. Only half of women of working age worldwide are integrated into the paid work force, compared to more than three-quarters of men.
However, little by little this situation is changing. Domestic and unpaid personal care work begins to get rid of the reputation of being "women's work"; Today men assume more household responsibilities than their parents and grandparents. Some countries, particularly in Europe, are reviewing traditional labor policies so that parents can decide how to allocate leave time after the birth of their children.
There is an increasing recognition of the value of this kind of work, not only for children and families, but also for the long-term health of societies and economies. Estimates of their contribution to national economies range from 20% to 60% of GDP.
In 2015, United Nations member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS), which call for the recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid personal care work, something that feminist economists and gender equality activists have long advocated . Now the question is what can be done in truth to achieve this goal.
The responsibility will be primarily of the governments. While there are companies or neighborhood associations that offer child care services to working parents, costs and quality are very varied. Public actions are needed to ensure that these services cover all those who need them (preschoolers, the sick, the disabled, the elderly) and are universally accessible and affordable.
But in addition to the provision of services, the achievement of ODS will require policy changes. Above all, it is necessary for governments to regulate the provision of parental and family leave programs, and to provide, together with private companies, monetary incentives for men and women to share more equitably domestic and personal care work. These policies have proved effective not only in the countries of northern Europe (the model most often cited) but also in others in Eastern Europe such as Lithuania, Estonia and even Hungary, which proves that they are applicable everywhere.
It is true that now that many governments, particularly in developing countries, face serious fiscal constraints, such interventions may seem impossible. But spending in the personal care sector should be seen as an investment, not as a cost. A recent study in Turkey shows that public investment in this sector can create 2.5 times more jobs than the same investment in the construction industry. More than half of those jobs, worthy and able to raise incomes and living standards (especially of poor families), would be occupied by women.
International institutions can provide fundamental support to governments to take advantage of the opportunities offered by investment in the personal care sector. In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched an initiative that helped women who had generally worked at home a lifetime to find employment in the personal care sector, enabling them to apply their skills To the care of children and young adults with disabilities, and at the same time earning an income.
The growth and aging of populations will emphasize the importance of the personal care sector. Those countries that are now adapting to the new circumstances will gain a considerable advantage by strengthening women's rights and freedoms, generating employment and creating more equal societies. What are we waiting for?