THE IMPACT OF UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF UNPAID CARE WORK BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN ON THE ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN IN SMALL SCALE BUSINESSES IN LILONGWE RURAL AND PERI URBA

Abstract

Unpaid care work constitutes all services that are provided to nurture other people. These services are not paid for, provided as obligatory but costly in time and energy. Research has shown that care provision is mostly done by women because of the belief that women have a natural capacity and desire to care, hence disproportionately burdening women with unpaid care work. The study set out to investigate how the burden of unpaid care work at the household level affects women's businesses in terms of performance and economic outcomes. The specific objectives were to find the distribution of unpaid care work between men and women in the participants’ households; to investigate how unpaid care work restricts women from carrying out their business activities, and to compare the business performance and outcomes between men and women. The research was guided by feminist theorizing and used the Harvard Analytical Framework (HAF), sometimes called the “Gender Roles Framework” in developing data collection tools. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to emphasize objective measurement and enable the use of statistical analysis of data. Structured interviews were administered to 170 respondents and 4 focus group discussions were conducted. Key findings of the study indicated that women spent more hours (5 hours) on unpaid care work, unlike men who spent less. Consequently, on average, women spent fewer hours (4 hours) on their businesses while men spent more hours. The study also found that unpaid care work restricted women’s business choices, location and mode of operation, and this affected the productivity of their businesses negatively as compared to those run by men. The study concluded that the unpaid care work burden on women restricted the gains from their businesses and created a barrier to their attainment of economic empowerment. The study recommends that the unpaid care work burden on women should be addressed and reduced, especially for those without alternatives in the provision of care work for their families, if they are to achieve economic empowerment through businesses. It further recommends the Provision of essential services that make care provision easier and faster like portable water, cooking energy, health services, and early childhood care centres.