- Local report focuses on the absence of unpaid care work performed for those with disabilities, from policy agendas/official stats concerning labour force participation
Unpaid care work is an invisible but essential element of a well-functioning society, which has traditionally been performed by females. This includes, among other work, caring for family members with disabilities. However, despite their critical contribution to the economy, females who exclusively perform unpaid care work are not counted among the labour force in many countries including in Sri Lanka.
This is in a context where policymakers, economic analysts, and most donor and international organisations persistently argue that female labour force participation is low in Sri Lanka.
Noting this, a recent study report on the situation of unpaid care work in Sri Lanka further emphasised that even historically, unpaid care work has been absent from policy agendas and left out of official statistics, thereby obscuring the reality of female participation in the labour force. Titled the “Pilot Study on Unpaid Care Work in Relation to Persons with Disabilities and Associated Social Protection Policies” and compiled by Menaka Lecamwasam, the report was issued by the Women and Media Collective last week in Colombo.
Situation of unpaid care work relating to persons living with disabilities
The study attempted to capture the impact of unpaid care work on female labour force participation using household-level data from the Colombo, Batticaloa, Kurunegala, and Anuradhapura districts and its overall objective was to contribute to evidence-based research on recognising, reducing, and redistributing the burden of care-related work and the need for an overall social care policy which recognises the need for increased investment in State-run entities that provide care services.
The study was specifically conducted to explore the availability, access, and use of Government and private care services and facilities for vulnerable households and family members in order to evaluate the potential benefits of State investment and private sector-supported entities to reduce females’ unpaid care work. The study also aimed to capture the social protection initiatives available to persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka and the impact of such availability on the unpaid care work of females in relation to household members with disabilities.
“Laws and policies in Sri Lanka don’t address the issues of social protection and care of persons with disabilities to reduce their dependence on families for support. Therefore, their care is relegated to the private sphere, with authorities placing emphasis on the dependency of persons with disabilities,” the report said, adding that the majority of the survey respondents (91.3%) were females, signifying that the majority of carers of those with disabilities are females and that 66.3% of the respondents were Sinhalese, 28.8% were Tamil, and 5% were Muslim, reflecting the overall population in the selected districts.
Even though overall females are the primary carers in most households, the report said that the percentage of male respondents from Urban and Municipal Council areas is slightly higher than that of female respondents from these areas. This, it added, could indicate that more males from urban areas take on care-related responsibilities when compared with males from less urban areas, which perhaps may be the result of the more cosmopolitan attitudes, including toward care-related responsibilities of urban dwellers.
“More than two-thirds (65.6%) of those who replied in the affirmative to the question as to whether they liked to engage in employment are currently not employed. The majority of the respondents who are not employed (66.7%) state that they are unable to engage in employment due to the fact of having to care for the household member with disabilities, who is often a child. This illustrates that caregiving responsibilities have an adverse impact on the ability to take on paid employment,” the report described the pilot project’s findings, further explaining that when considering the gender dimensions of the responses with regard to the reasons for not being currently employed, the survey found that more than two thirds (67.5%) of female respondents who indicated that they’d like to engage in employment but are not currently employed were unable to secure employment due to responsibilities associated with care-related work.
When asked if the respondents employed domestic help (includes paid domestic workers who come for a few hours daily or weekly as well as live-in domestic helpers), only 18.8% of the respondents had mentioned that they employed domestic help, while the majority indicated they do not employ such helpers. All of the respondents who employ domestic help belonged to the Sinhala ethnicity, while none of the Tamil and Muslim respondents reported employment of domestic help. The vast majority of respondents (96.5%) had claimed that Government care centres for those with disabilities are either not available in their areas or that they are not aware of the availability of such services in the vicinity. Similar to Government care services, 92.5% had claimed that private care centres for those with disabilities (including not for profit organisations such as civil society organisations) are either not available in their areas or that they are not aware of the availability of such services.
Moreover, the report added that in a context where time poverty due to unpaid care work (because of the time and labour expended in caring for dependent household members) prevents females from taking up paid work and often from taking part in public and cultural life, the participation of other household members in care-related and household activities lessens the care-related burden placed on unpaid carers.
Burden of unpaid care work on females and the econ.
The report noted that the care of persons with disabilities is relegated to the private sphere in Sri Lanka, and that with the authorities placing emphasis on the dependency of persons with disabilities, families are called upon to provide care and assistance to persons with disabilities without any formal recognition or accommodation of their role. This, the report added, has increased the care-related burden on families.
The study revealed that the majority of carers of household members with disabilities are females, thus disproportionately burdening females with unpaid care work within the household. Females in the age group of 30-39 years recorded the lowest percentage of carers, which the report said was perhaps because this age group has one of the highest national labour force participation figures. Despite being interested in paid employment, many are prevented from taking on paid employment due to their unpaid care work-related responsibilities, which are often in relation to a child. Adding that not many respondents employed domestic help, perhaps due to affordability factors, which only increased the unpaid care work-related burden, the report further concluded that significantly, the household income of a majority of survey respondents fell below the poverty line, making only essential expenditure possible within households.
It added: “As the majority of family members with disabilities require assistance with all of their work but paid caregivers and domestic help are not feasible in light of the constraints of the household income, the burden of the unpaid caregiver has increased significantly. Survey findings revealed that both Government and private care services are either not available or that the majority of potential users are not aware of the availability of such services. Out of the minority of those who stated that they are aware of such services, most did not avail of such services because they stay at home to take care of the persons with disabilities, thereby depriving the labour force as well as themselves of the opportunity to generate income. Some respondents didn’t use these services due to the costs involved. Preschools that accept children with disabilities tend to be the most widely available form of care-related service. As such, a majority of respondents have enrolled their children in these preschools, which may have a positive impact on the unpaid care work-related burden of such respondents and their labour force participation.”
As per the findings of the study, time poverty acts as one of the main barriers in the labour force participation of females engaged in unpaid care work, in a context where the majority of the respondents engaged in a variety of household chores in addition to caring for persons with disabilities. The respondents were also primarily responsible for the performance of the majority of chores, even though other household members contribute to household chores and care work to a certain extent. As a result, on average, a considerable amount of time was spent on taking care of the persons with disabilities (10 hours), cooking (2.5 hours) and washing clothes and cleaning the house (three hours), which is more than the legally permissible eight hour limit for paid employment. More male respondents were seen to be receiving assistance from non-dependent household members for both the performance of household chores and unpaid care work. The report’s conclusions further said that this may point to entrenched gender stereotypes and expectations of the division of labour within society which view unpaid care work as the prerogative of females who therefore do not require assistance, whereas men engaged in unpaid care work are essentially performing non-traditional and alien activities as a result of which they require assistance.
Adding that 83.8% of respondents benefited from Government social security schemes, the report explained: “72.1% received the Government disability allowance while some families received assistance from more than one social security scheme. Nevertheless, almost half the households receive less than Rs. 5,000 as benefits, the insignificant sum of which does not allow unpaid care workers to employ necessary help or to avail themselves of what few care-related services are available. The recipients of these schemes also have various barriers to accessing funds, including delays in payments and having to incur transport costs to collect payments. Adequate social security benefits are necessary for females from impoverished backgrounds performing unpaid care work in order to lessen their care-related burden and to contribute to the economy and their own well-being.”
The report stated that in this context, unpaid care work unduly burdens females due to the existence of underlying gendered social norms that expect females to play an active role in the domestic sphere, adding that however, variations of the expectations of the role of females can be seen across ethnic and rural-urban divides. It pointed out that gender inequalities in unpaid care work that view care work as a female prerogative must be addressed to achieve satisfactory strides in female participation in the labour force.
Furthermore, access to safe and affordable care services is paramount in reducing this excessive caregiver-related burden placed on females. Social protection and welfare schemes too have to be strengthened to break the cycle of poverty and provide assistance to persons with disabilities and vulnerable families in addressing females’ unpaid care-related burden, according to the report.