Swathi S, School of law, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur
ABSTRACT
Unpaid household activities done for self-consumption go unrecognized and invisible in the eyes of society, as well as in calculating national accounts. Women make up the majority of those performing unpaid work. This has always been the situation with women and unpaid work. The traditional norms, which are a result of deeply ingrained values from our ancestors, compel women to perform household duties. Women homemakers are being discriminated against in their very own families as incompetent workers, while men who work in paid employment are considered the so-called “breadwinners” of the family. When we trace the gender inequality that has prevailed in society for a long time, we can see that it comes from our society’s basic institution of family, which fixes the girl’s role as one who takes care of the family and the boy’s role as one who works for the family.
Even though their contribution to the family's well-being is crucial, women who stay at work and perform household duties are not regarded as workers. The need to recognise this unpaid work is greatly increasing. This study aims to examine the relationship between unpaid work and gender inequality as well as the evolution of the law to recognize unpaid work. In addition to that, this article also suggests ways to reduce the gender gap in the labour force.
Keywords: Unpaid work, Women empowerment, Domestic care work, Gender inequality
