The Unpaid Care Work and the Labour Market. An analysis of time use data based on the latest World Compilation of Time-use Surveys

The Unpaid Care Work and the Labour Market. An analysis of time use data based on the latest World Compilation of Time-use SurveysJacques CharmesILOThe Unpaid Care Work and the Labour Market. An analysis of time use data based on the latest World Compilation of Time-use Surveys Gender, Equality and Diversity & ILOAIDS Branch Copyright © International Labour Organization 2019 First published (2019) Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Licensing), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: rights@ilo.org. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with a reproduction rights organization may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. The Unpaid Care Work and the Labour Market. An analysis of time use data based on the latest World Compilation of Time-use Surveys / Jacques Charmes; International Labour Office – Geneva: ILO, 2019. ISBN: 978-92-2-133516-0 (print); 978-92-2-133517-7 (web pdf) The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the International Labour Office, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. Information on ILO publications and digital products can be found at: www.ilo.org/publns. Printed in Switzerland 2 The Unpaid Care Work and the Labour Market. An analysis of time use data based on the latest World Compilation of Time-use Surveys Jacques Charmes 3 Preface In the coming years, the need for care work is likely to increase due to demographic, socio-economic and environmental transformations. Across the world, unpaid carers, especially women, meet the large majority of care needs. For an analysis of unpaid care work, time-use data are one of the most important data sources to look at, especially considering the important gender dimension of its work. How much time do people spend on doing paid and unpaid care work? How do women and men spend their time differently on unpaid care work? Are there any differences in time use among the regions? How do socio-economic factors influence people’s choices to do paid and unpaid care work? To address these questions, the Unpaid Care Work and Labour Market: An Analysis of Time Use Data on the Latest World Compilation of Time-use Surveys provides a comprehensive overview of the extent, characteristics and historical trends of unpaid care work based on the analysis of the most recent time-use surveys carried out at the national level across the world. By discussing the concepts and methodological approaches which underlie the analysis of time-use data, this research paper shows the differences in time spent on unpaid care work between women and men and among people with different socioeconomic characteristics: geographical location, age group, educational level, activity status, employment status, income group, marital status and presence and age of children in the household. Through examining the trends in time spent on paid and unpaid care work over the last twenty years, this paper shows that women have unequal accesses to the labour market due to a significant extent to the disproportionate amount of time they spend on unpaid care work. Across the world, without exception, women carry out three-quarters of unpaid care work, or more than 75 per cent of the total hours provided. Women dedicate on average 3.2 times more time than men to unpaid care work. There is no country where women and men perform an equal share of unpaid care work. As a result, women are constantly time poor, which constrains their participation in the labour market. The paper highlights the importance of