translated from Spanish: It’s not love: why International Domestic Labor Day is commemorated

This Wednesday, July 22, marks the International Day of Domestic Work, which aims to highlight the gender inequality that exists in the distribution of household chores. The date was officially declared in 1983, when the Second Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting was held in Peru. These work was recognized in 2011 by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which in Convention 189 provides that a domestic employee is “every person, female or male, who performs domestic work within the framework of an employment relationship”.

This situation is evident in the numbers: according to the 2013 INDEC Unpaid Work and Time Use Survey, household and care tasks fall on women in 76% of cases.

It is a precarious and feminized sector; According to the same report, women spend an average of 6.4 hours a day on domestic activities, while males spend only 3.4 hoursFor part, coronavirus quarantine showed and deepened this inequality. The Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity said: “It is almost always done by women and LGBTI+ people and this inequitable distribution became visible more than ever during the pandemic,” they said in a network statement. They went on: “That reality negatively impacts people’s development and autonomy, especially women and dissenting identities, and translates into ‘gender gaps’, i.e. inequalities in wages, trade union, business, political and other participation.” These responsibilities for care and unpaid domestic work are what is called a “mental burden.” Filo spoke with two sociologiaces and a house master to understand this phenomenon, and you can read it by clicking here.
In this note:

International Day of Domestic Work

Original source in Spanish

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