Unpaid Care Work in Indonesia: Why Should We Care? Valentina Y.D. Utari The SMERU Research Institute Forum Kajian Pembangunan Jakarta, 24 October 2017
Outline Introduction What is unpaid care work? Why should we care? Policy issues Unpaid care work in Indonesia Closing remarks
Introduction Started in 2012 as part of a global study involving 5 country-partners (Indonesia, Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria) organized by IDS and funded by SIDA; and currently updated as SMERU s independent study A combination of desk study and visual methods Centers on the notions of 3Rs recognition, reduction, redistribution (Elson 2008) and care diamond (Razavi 2007) Seeks to understand the situation of unpaid care work in Indonesia not only to raising public awareness about the importance of the work but also to support the development of better care related policies
What is unpaid care work? Direct caring nursing the sick, looking after and nurturing children, taking care of the elderly, assisting able-bodied adults, supporting people with special needs Indirect caring housekeeping, home management and domestic tasks like preparing meals, cleaning the house, doing the dishes, repairing clothes, collecting water, collecting fuel Performed in homes as well as in communities Necessary for human s physical and emotional wellbeing All of us need to receive unpaid care work and are able to provide the work (OECD 2014; UN Human Rights Council 2013; Budlender & Lund 2008; Zimmerman et al. 2006)
Often perceived as non-skilled, female-dominated domestic activities. It is women s obligation, requiring long hours to complete with non-economic reward. Among women, unpaid care work is mostly done by housewives (Consultation with stakeholders, 2012 & 2014) All of the women also work on the field; so, they use their free time to do the household chores. Normally, they have free time only in the morning and they use it for cooking meals (FGD with Men, SMERU s study on Gender and Economic Decision Making Indonesia Case Study, 2011) Homemaking covers activities done by someone in order to manage the household without getting any payment, e.g. [activities done by] housewives and their children who help them to take care of the house. A domestic worker, however, who gets paid for doing homemaking is considered as working. (https://www.bps.go.id/subjek/view/id/6) Unpaid care work covers washing husband s, children s, and mother-in-law s clothes; washing dishes, cooking rice, cooking side dishes, boiling water, sweeping the floor, wiping the floor, cleaning the furniture, taking care of sick household members, taking care of the children. The most tedious one is taking care of the ill elderly, especially to provide snacks (Interview with Female (31), SMERU s study on Life in a Time of Food Price Volatility, 2012-2014 )
Why should we care? Gender equality Right-based human development Economy
In various settings, care transfer mostly happens from women to women. When mothers become migrant workers, their caring responsibility is transferred to other family members: Source: The Wellbeing of Children Left Behind by Their Mothers who Become Migrant Workers: A Study Case in Two Kabupaten in Indonesia, SMERU
Policy issues 3Rs Care diamond Recognition Family/household Reduction Redistribution Govt Domestic Workers Market Non-profit, e.g. CSOs, NGOs, community-based care providers
SDGs global Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate Indicator 5.4.1 Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location
SDGs national What s left post MDGs: national poverty rate, infant and U5 mortality rates, HIV prevalence, CO2 emission, water and sanitation access in rural, urban poverty (Bappenas 2015) In general, SDG goals and targets are already aligned in the RPJMN 2015-2019 In particular, SDG goals that have high resemblance with the RPJMN are goal #1(poverty), #3 (health), #4 (education), #6 (water and sanitation), and #7 (energy) On the other hand, limited discussion in the RPJMN in regards to goal #5 (gender), #8 (inclusive growth), #12 (sustainable production and consumption) Source: Study on MDGs Transformation to SDGs, SMERU, 2016
Existing Policies on Breastfeeding Law No. 49/1999 on Human Rights protection for women undertaking work/profession that might threaten their safety and/or reproductive health Act No. 13/2003 on Manpower proper opportunities for female workers to breastfeed during working hours Law No. 36/2009 on Health the right of every child to receive exclusive breast milk; the child s mother to receive full support Govt Regulation 33/2012 workplace and public facilities must support exclusive breastfeeding MoH Decree No. 450/MENKES/SK/VI/2004 exclusive breastfeeding Joint Regulations of Three Ministers supporting mothers to express breast milk during working hours in the workplace Sari Husada four-months maternity
Existing Policies on Daycare MoE Regulation 58/2009: early childhood education MoE Regulation 137/2014: academic qualification for early childhood teachers Technical Guidance of the Directorate of Early Childhood Education of MoEC of 2015: standards of daycare management Joint publication of ILO Indonesia, Bappenas, MAMPU, AusAID of 2015: community-based child caring training manual MoSA Regulation 30/2011: national standard on child caring for institutions (foster care) MoH 79/2014: geriatric daylight-care clinic in the hospital Religious-based daycare or foster house
Unpaid care work in Indonesia Distribution of Male and Female (Aged>14) Doing Care Work (in %) Prevalence of Male and Female (Aged>14) Doing Care Work (in %) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 89.08 93.91 97.86 98.21 10.92 6.09 2.14 1.79 98.78 98.56 99.36 99.31 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 25.1827.82 9.93 12.33 76.84 77.25 85.37 85.65 1.22 1.44 0.64 0.69 Male 2005 2006 2014 2015 2005 2006 2014 2015 Female Paid 1.22 0.8 0.55 0.51 0.95 1.13 0.55 0.6 Male 2005 2006 2014 2015 2005 2006 2014 2015 Female Paid Paid Unpaid Paid Unpaid Source: SAKERNAS, calculated by SMERU
Women have actively done unpaid care work since they were very young. 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% male female male female male female male female male female male female male female male female infant & U5 infant & U5 child (5-12) child (5-12) child (13-14) child (13-child (15-child (15-14) 17) 17) adult (18-24) adult (18-24) adult (25-30) adult (25-30) adult (31-60) adult (31-60) senior citizen senior citizen 2005 2008 2011 2014 Source: SUSENAS, calculated by SMERU
120% By relationship to HH, those doing unpaid care work the most are: female HH, wife, daughter in law. 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% male female male female male female male female male female male female male female male female HH HH Wf/hs Wf/hs Child Child Child in law Child in law Grandchild Grandchild Parents (inlaw) Parents (inlaw) Other relatives Other relatives Others Others 2005 2008 2011 2014 Source: SUSENAS, calculated by SMERU
In each quintile, women s unpaid care work is three fold to six fold of that of men. Interestingly, the higher the income group, the smaller the gap is. 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% male female male female male female male female male female bottom low income bottom low income low income low income middle income middle income high income high income upper high income upper high income 2005 2008 2011 2014 Source: SUSENAS, calculated by SMERU
No diploma Elementary School (SD) Junior High School (SMP) High School (SMA) Undergraduate Postgraduate No diploma Elementary School (SD) Junior High School (SMP) High School (SMA) Undergraduate Postgraduate No diploma Elementary School (SD) Junior High School (SMP) High School (SMA) Undergraduate Postgraduate No diploma Elementary School (SD) Junior High School (SMP) High School (SMA) Undergraduate Postgraduate % People Doing Unpaid Carework Education seems playing an important role in promoting co-responsibility in doing unpaid care work. 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2005 2008 2011 2014 The Highest Education Attainment by Year Male Female Source: SUSENAS, calculated by SMERU
Family type (nuclear family vs extended family) does not seem to be an influential driver for men and women to do unpaid care work. 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Living in nuclear family Living in extended family Living in nuclear family Living in extended family % of Male Doing UCW % of Female Doing UCW 2005 2008 2011 2014 Source: SUSENAS, calculated by SMERU
It is highly likely that those doing unpaid care work will take informal jobs. 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 59.85 59.07 55.72 54.19 65.21 62.92 58.88 57.5 43.17 66.91 63.07 63.14 76.36 74.15 70.56 68.83 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 40.15 40.93 44.28 45.81 34.79 37.08 41.12 42.5 56.83 33.09 36.93 36.86 23.64 25.85 29.44 31.17 0% 2005 2008 2011 2014 2005 2008 2011 2014 2005 2008 2011 2014 2005 2008 2011 2014 paid work only paid work + unpaid care work paid work only paid work + unpaid care work male female formal informal Source: SUSENAS, calculated by SMERU
Both men and women might choose informal jobs when they have to do unpaid care work. However, the possibility is higher for women. 120.0 100.0 9.3 10.3 12.5 14.2 11.5 12.0 14.1 16.1 80.0 24.1 28.8 33.0 31.5 37.1 39.8 54.2 60.0 83.5 40.0 90.2 88.7 85.9 84.2 88.3 87.6 85.2 83.2 74.0 68.1 63.8 68.2 62.4 59.6 20.0 45.0 16.3 0.0 2005 2008 2011 2014 2005 2008 2011 2014 2005 2008 2011 2014 2005 2008 2011 2014 Formal Informal Formal Informal Male Female paid work only paid work + unpaid care work paid work + unpaid care work + school paid work + school Source: SUSENAS, calculated by SMERU
Closing remarks The data available does not show the magnitude of unpaid care work issues, but it has indicated that There is potential decrease of unpaid care providers while the need of unpaid care work will be continuously increasing Men s participation is slowly growing although women are still taking the main role Time use survey is critically necessary To show the 3Rs of unpaid care work in Indonesia To show whether there is a shift from household/family-based unpaid care providers to market, e.g. laundry service There should be adjustment to Susenas consumption module to follow the pattern of unpaid care service although there is a good practice in covering the costs of household chores and daycare in Survei Biaya Hidup.
THANK YOU Twitter: @SMERUInstitute Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smeruinstitute Research Team: Widjajanti Isdijoso (advisor) Valentina YD Utari Rachma Indah Nurbani Elza Samantha Elmira Nila Wardah Hariyanti Sadaly