The influence of social norm on unpaid care responsibilities in Ethiopia
The cultural and traditional norms in a specific geographic area dictate distinct behaviours for men and women when it comes to engaging in livelihood activities. However, such norms often result in unequal burdens on women due to their involvement in unpaid household work. As a consequence, women’s mobility is constrained, limiting their access to essential environmental information crucial for enhancing their standard of living. The power imbalance between men and women in rural household livelihoods, with women primarily engaged in unpaid reproductive roles, further exacerbates the burden of unpaid care work on women. This, in turn, contributes to difficulties faced by working mothers in Ethiopia, particularly concerning childcare, leading to potential impacts on workplace productivity.
Gender norms are deeply ingrained from early childhood, leading to a stark difference in the allocation of unpaid care and domestic work between girls and boys. Sadly, this disparity has profound consequences for girls’ well-being, as it restricts their time for learning, personal development, and leisure. Such norms can also shape boys’ perceptions of the value of girls’ time, potentially leading to limited roles for girls as they grow up, reinforcing traditional gender roles as fathers and caregivers. In many communities, women are accorded lower social status, with men being considered the sole decision-makers. Consequently, women are burdened with responsibilities such as cooking, fetching water, making coffee, caring for children, and washing clothes, leaving them with no time for rest or self-care. The perpetuation of gender patterns in unpaid care work persists across generations, with women continuing to spend more time on such activities compared to men. This unequal distribution of care work not only hinders women’s personal growth and health but also reinforces gender inequalities in society.
Overview:
Gender disparities in unpaid care work are explained by discriminatory social norms. Some of these gender differences in time use can be attributed to sociodemographic and economic elements like wealth and educational attainment. Inequalities in caring responsibilities still exist in wealthy and educated households, where women devote more than 60% of the time to housework and childcare regardless of their employment, income, or educational status.
Opportunities for women and men are influenced by social systems, such as traditional gender roles beliefs, just as much as they are by the circumstances in which they live. The decisions, choices, and behaviours of groups, communities, and individuals are shaped or constrained by social institutions such as formal and informal laws, social norms, and practices. Social institutions affect gender roles by defining what behaviours are deemed acceptable or unacceptable in a society. For example, in most societies, paid work is viewed as a masculine task while unpaid caregiving is viewed as a woman’s responsibility(Geleta et al, 2015). Social norms and bargaining processes are closely related, as they can make people accept a status quo that is not beneficial to them. They can also weaken women’s and girls’ bargaining power by weakening their ‘outside options’ or prescribing more ‘quiet’ and ‘covert’ behaviour to females. Women’s bargaining power in household decisions is also shaped by what subjects are considered suitable for bargaining. Gendered social norms for adolescent girls in Ethiopia are changing unevenly due to rapid economic development, but from a low base. To address this, policy and programming solutions should focus on educational and vocational training alternatives, investing in safe spaces, improving services for already married girls, and engaging men and boys in constructive activities(Berhane et al, 2019)
Key Points
- Cultural belief accepted from the previous generation, beliefs and attitude related to gender and lack of education was stated as the main pre-existing conditions for gender norms in the community
- Women’s lack of decision-making power was found to be one of the most stated challenges regarding poor utilisation of family planning among married men and women.
- Culturally based gendered division of labour contributes to unequal access to and control over resources and extension services.
- Working mothers at higher education institutions experience a variety of childcare challenges, which negatively impacts their work performance.
- Household headship is one main determinant that influences and shapes gender roles and responsibilities, access to and control over livelihood resources and agricultural extension services in rural households.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Culturally based gendered division of labour contributes to unequal access to and control over resources and extension services. To improve the standard of living for both men and women living in rural areas, efforts from adolescent girls are often key contributors to family life, providing labour, care and income, increasing participation in social protection is intended to enhance the development of girls. Although there have been some changes in communities due to some awareness raised about women’s rights or equality through woreda women’s and children affairs, gender norms are still heavily practised in daily life in the community. Women’s productive work in the home has been disregarded, and little has been done to account for the value of these activities in national accounts. Working mothers are negatively impacted by these practices, which lowers their productivity and causes them to arrive late for work
Recommendation
- Interventions on awareness-raising activities, community discussions, even at the individual level involving men, would be a possible solution to those gender-related issues on family planning decision-making.
- Efforts from development actors and policy-makers working on agricultural and rural development interventions to implement strategies for gender mainstreaming, sensitization and responsive actions with the ultimate goal of ensuring gender equality, equity and balance in rural areas.
- Gender responsive social protection to improve women’s access to and control over income and assets
- Daycare facilities and other incentives are suggested for working mothers in order to improve the working environment and boost working mothers’ performance.
- Initiatives to offer young girls who are already married on mental health services and support, including possibilities to re enter school after a gap in education is recommended.
- Development actors and policy-makers to implement strategies for gender mainstreaming, sensitization and responsive actions to ensure gender equality, equity and balance in rural areas.
Reference
- Berhane, Y., Worku, A., Tewahido, D., Fasil, N., Gulema, H., Tadesse, A. W., & Abdelmenan, S. (2019). Adolescent Girls’ Agency Significantly Correlates With Favourable Social Norms in Ethiopia—Implications for Improving Sexual and Reproductive Health of Young Adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 64(4), 52-59
- Geleta, D., Birhanu, Z., Kaufman, M., & Temesgen, B. (2015). Gender norms and family planning decision-making among married men and women, Rural Ethiopia: A qualitative study. Science Journal of Public Health, 3(2), 242 – 250.