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2. Exploring the Need for Gender-Equitable Fiscal Policies for a Human Economy: Evidence from Uganda and Zimbabwe
- Author:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Fiscal policy can be a powerful tool for governments to help achieve a ‘human economy’, if these policies are designed to address gender inequalities and the gender biases in current macroeconomic thinking. This report uses the case of one element of fiscal policy – public spending – to demonstrate how such policy design could help achieve gender equality and improve human development outcomes in developing countries. The report identifies unpaid care and domestic work as a key area where fiscal policy has a significant impact on gender equality. Using data from Oxfam’s 2017 Household Care Survey in Uganda and Zimbabwe, the report explores the impact on adults’ and children’s/adolescents’ time use of access to improved water sources, electricity, healthcare and childcare. It also considers secondary impacts on measures of well-being and women’s empowerment, including women’s health and decision making.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Science and Technology, Infrastructure, Fiscal Policy, and Domestic Policy
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Africa, and Zimbabwe
3. Infrastructure and Equipment for Unpaid Care Work: Household Survey Findings from the Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe
- Author:
- Sandrine A. Koissy-Kpein and Lucia Rost
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Care work is essential for personal wellbeing, a healthy society and a functioning economy. But across the world, it is overwhelmingly done by women, which restricts their opportunities. Policy makers rarely recognize the public responsibility for facilitating unpaid care and domestic work through investments in infrastructure and care services. In 2017, Oxfam’s Women’s Economic Empowerment and Care (WE-Care) initiative conducted a Household Care Survey (HCS), collecting data in the Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe, to inform the design of public policies and local development programmes. The study tests which infrastructure, equipment and other factors influence care-work patterns. It finds that access to improved water sources is associated with reduced hours of care work, and household equipment facilitates men’s participation in care. It also finds that heavy workloads related to long hours of unpaid care can impact women’s health and well-being. Perceptions of care work, community expectations and fear of sanctions for deviating from social norms play an essential part in maintaining the gendered division of care work. The report presents recommendations for government and private sector decision-makers, development practitioners and researchers in the area of women’s economic empowerment on how they can contribute to facilitate the recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care work.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Gender Based Violence, Local, Norms, and Empowerment
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Africa, Philippines, Zimbabwe, and Asia-Pacific
4. Understanding Norms around the Gendered Division of Labour: Results from Focus Group Discussions in Zimbabwe
- Author:
- Emma Samman
- Publication Date:
- 06-2018
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Social norms refer to the shared expectations held by a given community. They are often held in place by social approval or rewards for conformity, and by disapproval or sanctions for transgressions. Understanding how and why social norms hold sway can provide a powerful means for understanding the gendered division of work that prevails in many communities and inform strategies aimed at promoting change. This report summarizes the main findings from the qualitative research conducted in August 2017 to support on the identification of the main social norms related to unpaid care and domestic work in rural communities in four districts in Zimbabwe. The research served to identify who the leaders are that communities look up to in order to validate social norms change. It helped to identify nascent opportunities for changes in the gendered division of labour, and what the implications are of the findings for planning and practice in addressing inequalities on unpaid care and domestic work.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Norms, Empowerment, and Care
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Zimbabwe