Domestic work: How to evaluate it?

It is not difficult to take into account the domestic work performed by women, but it has not been evaluated yet due to a lack of a recognised method.

However, it may find its way into the Eighth Five-Year Plan if an evaluation method is found, Dr Shamsul Alam, a member of the Planning Commission, said during a webinar.

The event that focused on the Eighth Five-Year Plan, a development roadmap, and the recognition of domestic work was jointly organised by bdnews24.com and ActionAid Bangladesh on Tuesday.

“A large section of the society is engaged in domestic work. The prime minister once asked whether this work could be assessed. She is aware of the matter,” Alam said.

It should be evaluated, Alam said. But the discussions usually get stuck in a rut when the question of inclusion arises. “We have not come up with any recognised method. If we and the UN agree in principle, then it can be evaluated.”

Since domestic work is not factored into the GDP, there is no recognition of the work done by a large number of women.

The GDP is calculated through national income accounting, a bookkeeping system that a government uses to measure the level of the country's economic activity. “There is no opportunity to include anything else in it,” Alam said.

“We must have a method in place for the assessment of domestic work,” he said. “I have no problems with incorporating it in the Eighth Five-Year Plan if I am given something in an organised manner.”

Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, spoke about an alternative system: a satellite account, which is a framework of presentation for the economic data of a particular area in relation to the overall economic analysis of the central framework of the national accounts.

“We cannot factor it into the GDP ourselves by going beyond the UN-mandated approach. We can show the value of women's work by creating a satellite account without including it in the GDP calculations.”

Several countries, including Mexico, are assessing women's domestic work by conducting 'time-use pattern' surveys that collect data on how human beings spend their time on different activities.

Highlighting a 2014 study by the CPD, Fahmida Khatun said, "The time that women spend on household chores is worth 2.5 times the work done outside.”

A woman has to pay ‘replacement cost’ if she hires someone for domestic work, she said. And the amount of money a woman will take for the work is called ‘willingness to accept’. These two methods can be used for evaluation and can be carried out indirectly.

Md Helal Uddin, South Asia advocacy coordinator at ActionAid International, presented a time expenditure survey of men and women in Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Dinajpur districts in the webinar.

In 2016, women performed 7.78 hours of unpaid household chores, while men did 1.1 hours. In 2019, the gap between men's and women's domestic work hours stood at 3.43 hours, down from 5.19 hours in 2017.

"We have seen that when men are included in the work, they assess it and cooperate."

Dr Gitiara Nasreen, a professor of mass communication and journalism at Dhaka University, said men are not becoming complete human beings as domestic work is not being evaluated.

"The Five-Year Plan calls for efforts to improve women's human capabilities. Why aren't we thinking about improving men's human capabilities? Women taking care of household chores are doing human work. When men don't do these types of work, they are not becoming humans.”

Undervalued work is not only increasing her stress levels but also deterring her from other work, she said. It also has a direct connection with domestic abuse. “A notion that 'women are not working' has arisen due to a lack of evaluation of domestic work and has led to a rise in inequality in the society.”

Human rights activist Khushi Kabir called for a change in mentality in this regard.

"Men used to think villagers would scoff at them if they performed household work, that they will not be able to join in if they belonged to the poor class. In many cases, this line of thinking is beginning to change.”

Actor Tropa Majumdar urged men to actively participate in the discussion on the evaluation of women's housework.

“How long will we continue to talk about ourselves? Men will have to talk here. If men just listen and return to their old ways after going back home, then a change can never be guaranteed.”

Majumdar emphasised changing society’s mentality about the difference in work of men and women.

"No matter how much our rights are established outside, if I can't guarantee my rights back home, all rights are then reduced to dust."

Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, said, “The recognition of household work means creating a position for women and being valued for their work in the society.”

The way men have been brought up, the patriarchal mentality creates obstacles to household work, she said.  “The media can play a big role here.”

She urged the media to campaign for the evaluation of women's domestic work.