LABOUR DAY’S THOUGHTS: “THE UNPAID LABOUR OF WOMEN = A PILLAR OF GENDER INEQUALITY”

This article will not include race analysis. In Canada, September 2nd is Labour Day. This day aims at celebrating workers’ achievements. The question is: are all workers’ achievements celebrated equally on this date? I am not quite sure as when workers are discussed or celebrated, a large group of workers is not included: the women accomplishing vital tasks in their homes 24/7. Indeed, women’s labour in their homes is looked down on as a given, as granted, as unseen or not worth of being seen and not worth of being appreciated because it comes with the gender of the person performing the tasks. Because we make domestic labour of women as part of their gender/womanhood, we automatically make it an unpaid one.

Indeed, while we accept that women working in their homes provide intensive and needed labour sometimes 24/7, we, as society have come to the consensus, that such work has no value and does not deserve any payment. But, is this true? Not really. Did you know that in Canada, the unpaid work of a woman farmer was valued at more or less $ 349.000.00/year (Statistics Canada 1995)?  

Is continuing to consider the labour of women as unpaid work a fair practice? Not at all. The Bible, says: “The labourer is worthy of his reward”, Timothy 5:18. And Matthew 10:10 adds: “The workman is worthy of hid meat” (1). Labour is a commodity with a monetary value attached to it. Therefore, when we decide that one group of people will provide work that they will never receive a pay for, we are discriminating based on gender and thus we are deeply perpetuating and normalizing gender inequality daily. And that’s a problem.

It is a problem because, in general, besides volunteer work, or act of kindness, men’s work is always paid. It is also another given. So, not paying women’s “labour of love” is reinforcing patriarchy in our society because we are saying: men and men’s work have value, while women have less value and not all their work has value.  It is clear that as long as we continue closing our eyes on such practices or making them the norm, we will not achieve gender equality. Some would be tempted to ask what the big deal is as the world have been working well from these premises.

It is a big deal because the patriarchy rooted in the unvalued and unpaid labour of women is directly linked to all gender based labour inequalities. It is the same principle that leads to the prevalent women’s wage inequity and to the fact that we have less women than men in position of power in all areas of life. For instance, in Canada, less than 20% of CEOs are women (2).

We are convinced that shifting the paradigm from the unacknowledged, unvalued and unpaid labour of women to an acknowledged, valued and unpaid one, will make a big step in closing the gap of gender inequality. We are also persuaded that governments of the world must examine closely this topic and find corrective measures.

It is true that the world has been working based on gender inequality and gender injustice, but we can change that.  Equality starts at home. As a society, I encourage us to continue giving equal share of chores/work, equal share of leadership, equal share of pay, rewards and penalties to our girls and boys in our homes, in our schools and to women and men in our institutions for gender Equality to become a reality one day. So, on this Labour day aiming at celebrating the achievements of workers, I invite us to celebrate the forgotten workers, the women providing crucial unpaid labour in their homes and farms. It is the daily work of these women, the unsung heroes, that makes this world work.

Annie Kashamura Zawadi ?

September 2, 2019

References:

1. King James Bible, https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/King-James-Version-KJV-Bible/ retrieved on September 1, 2019

2. Women hold less than 20% of positions on corporate boards, StatsCan finds, CBC, May 07, 2019 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/statistics-canada-women-corporate-boards-1.5125995 retrieved on September 2, 2019