Work in home leaves women worse off - report

THE NOTION that work in the home is becoming evenly distributed among the sexes is a myth, the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) has said, with women responsible for 86 per cent of child supervision, 82 per cent of care of adults and 80 per cent of cooking.

The disproportionate burden of care work has left women economically dependent and under-represented in decision-making, according to the organisation.

A new NWCI publication launched yesterday, Who Cares? Challenging the Myths about Gender and Care in Ireland, collates statistics from national and EU official sources which demonstrate the unfair burden of domestic work on women.

The statistics show the excessive burden of care duties damages women’s health, affects their employment, reduces their leisure time in comparison to men and affects their pension entitlements.

Women comprise 70 per cent of people in their 30s who are full-time carers in the home for adults with long-term illnesses or disabilities.

Being a full-time carer during working-age years deprives women of the opportunity to earn wages and provide for their pensions.

Almost one-third of carers said their own health had suffered because of care work.

Half found their care work stressful and four in 10 said they experienced emotional strain and/or lack of sleep.

For men, having children has almost no impact on their employment rate.

In contrast, approximately six in every 10 women with children are employed, compared with almost nine in every 10 women without children. Women who are excluded from the workforce because of their care duties are also excluded from the social insurance system, the NWCI says, and consequently have much lower pension entitlements.

More than 80 per cent of male pensioners are entitled to a State pension based on social insurance entitlements, but less than 60 per cent of women are entitled to the same pension.

The pension gap means that women are more likely to live in poverty in old age, with 18 per cent of women pensioners living below the poverty line compared with 15 per cent of men.

If care work was fairly shared, both sexes would have the opportunity to reach their full potential, said Orla O’Connor, head of policy with the NWCI.

“However, women’s disproportionate investment in care work generates substantial benefits for those they care for, but at a cost to themselves – women remain economically dependent and under-represented in decision-making.”

The NWCI also relaunched its website, www.nwci.ie, yesterday with a new logo by designer Alison Burns.