Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights: Unpaid Care Work and Women's Human Rights

Corporate Social Responsibility and Women’s Entrepreneurship: Towards a More Adequate Theory of “Work”

“…Similarly, production can be traditionally understood to refer to formal or informal paid activities that contribute to a good or service that can be exchange for a money price (Elson, 2010). A range of commentators have suggested that finance and production arguably “free ride” on reproductive work, without which “economies would simply not function” (Acker, 2006; Folbre, 1994: 3; Sepulveda Carmona, 2013; United Nations Economic and Social Council, 2016: 1). Feminist economists employ two concepts: “the study of provisioning” and “social reproduction” to overcome the apparent stalemate between production and reproduction in the analysis of individuals’ and groups’ economic behavior.…”

“…This model allows scholars of gender and CSR to engage questions about production and reproduction through their research. While it is little explored in current scholarship on CSR and gender, unpaid/care work is receiving increasing attention as a “major human rights issue” (Sepulveda Carmona, 2013), corroborating its place as a topic of relevance for the theory and practice of CSR. For example, research suggests that in many contexts, when a female caregiver’s unpaid/care work is experienced as incompatible with her market work, female children may be substituted into unpaid/caregiving roles, often to the detriment of their own wellbeing (Sweetman, 2014).…”

“…Prominent institutions ranging from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Oxfam to the World Bank have recently drawn attention to the topic of unpaid/care work and women’s empowerment (Gates, 2016; Hegewisch & Niethammer, 2016; Samman et al, 2016; Slaughter, 2016; Sweetman & Deepta, 2014; Woetzel et al, 2015). Oxfam has identified unpaid/care work a little- acknowledged contributor to the “glass wall” holding women back from equality in many contexts (Kidder, 2014), and the United Nations has stated that:The unequal distribution of unpaid/care work undermines the dignity of women caregivers; makes them more vulnerable to poverty; and prevents them from enjoying their rights—to work, to education, to health, to social security and to participation on an equal basis with men (Sepulveda Carmona, 2013: 4).…”

“…The unequal distribution of unpaid/care work undermines the dignity of women caregivers; makes them more vulnerable to poverty; and prevents them from enjoying their rights—to work, to education, to health, to social security and to participation on an equal basis with men (Sepulveda Carmona, 2013: 4).…”

Exploring the Need for Gender-Equitable Fiscal Policies for a Human Economy: Evidence from Uganda and Zimbabwe

“…In turn, this results in gender inequalities in labour, education, health and other outcomes. The heavy and unequal levels of unpaid care and domestic work carried out by women and girls contribute to their time poverty, deplete their health and well-being and fundamentally undermine their rights as human beings (Sepulveda Carmona, 2013). The limited number of conventional economic studies looking at the impact of macroeconomic policy on time use and unpaid care and domestic work, compared with other outcomes such as income and employment, is itself a demonstration of the gender bias of economic policy making (Baden, 1993).…”