Women in Comparative Societies

Women’s Work

Women work

Women work hard

Women work more than men

60-90 hours per week (UNICEF 2006)

Is this our perception? Why or why not?

Women’s economic dependence is a primary basis of patriarchy?

How? Why?

Men’s “micro power” i.e., power in the home; power to determine whether and how much their wives work

Working less- earns less but also diminishes your earning capacity

Puts and keeps men in the top spots

i.e., creates men’s macro power to hire/fire, segregate women in lower paying jobs

Feminist Economics

Seeks to include women’s unpaid labor in the study of economics

Including measuring women’s work in the informal economy

“under the table” “off the books”

Gray economy, also in small family businesses and farms

Women are often the majority of workers in this sector

Gender-Responsive Budgeting

Analyses of the impact of government spending on women and girls vs. men and boys

Time-use Survey

Reproductive Labor or “Care Labor”

Purveying and cooking the food

Water hauling

Finding wood, heating fuel

Caring for sick children, older parents

Cleaning

Doing errands

Taking kids to appointments

	Women	Men
US	13	4
Denmark	13	7
Russia	14	6.5
Mexico	33	6
India	35	4

Varies by class, socio-economic status

More educated men do more

In industrialized countries, gap between women and men has shrunk not because men do more, but because working women do less lower standards

“outsource” meal prep, cleaning

Time Availability Perspective

Women have more time so they clean more

Resources Perspective

Men have more resources (e.i., economic power but also status) so they can avoid housework

A gender caste system

Do women do less housework as they earn more and their status rises?

Evidence Mixed

Women don’t always control the wages they earn

Women’s status may increase when they are dependent upon their husband – how? Why?

Gender perspectives on household labor

Acting out, reinforcing gender roles

Gender socialization

Valorization of motherhood, especially for small children

Men do the “manly” jobs, women do the “feminine” jobs

Evidence of change: household division of labor became more equal as more women attain positions of power in government, careers

Women in Paid Labor Force

Varies by country, region, level of development

See Box 5.3 in Burn

	Percent of women in paid workforce
US	60%
Mexico	43%
India	36%
Pakistan	34%
Afghanistan	40%
Rwanda	85%

Maternity Leave Policies

Mandatory/paid vs. “voluntary” and unpaid

The Gender Pay Gap: Explanations and Solutions

What are the 4 main determinants of the pay gap? (101)

Which is responsible for the largest portion of the pay gap? (102-3)

What part of the pay gap is attributable to discrimination? (104)

The Glass Ceiling

Women largely absent from the upper reaches of economic power

Only 15 Fortune 500 and

24 Fortune 1000 companies are headed by women

Only 11.2 percent of corporate board seats are occupied by women (internationally)

Why?

Stereotypes and Leader Prototypes

Responsibilities of Home and Family *(real and perceived)

Organizational Practices

Recruitment

Norms

Mentoring Lacking

Worse for minority women: concrete ceiling

In US of all managers and professionals COMBINED

Only 5% African American Women

4% Latina

2% Asian American Women

Sexual Harassment

Gender Harassment

Sexual Coercion

Unwanted Sexual Attention

Self Employed Women

Own Account Workers