Abstract

Ali Saïdi-Sief Bendjedid

House work is a disputed area. We know that house members need to be fed, their laundry cleaned, living quarters tidied and when there are children, elderly or disabled individuals in the household, they need to be looked after and cared for. Getting the housework done usually requires cooperation and sometimes negotiation amongst members living together in order for responsibilities to be distributed fairly between two individuals who are usually the woman and the man, wife and husband, mother and father. However, in most cases, we find that women do more house work than men, even when both of them have jobs and contribute to the process of creating income. Although there is no objection to the fact that house work is both time consuming and laborious, women are not paid for it, and in all cultures it is regarded as a woman’s natural responsibility. This article explores three important issues. First, the equal share of unpaid house work between men and women helps women gain more labor market opportunities. Secondly, the need to acknowledge women’s unpaid house work in a country’s GDP, and finally, paying women for house work creates an incentive for women in poor developing countries to stay at home and take care of their own families and raise their own children, instead of working as maids and nannies in rich developed countries.