Men are responsible for assuring their family’s livelihood and women are responsible for hearth and home – of course without being paid for the work! That has been the typical role allocation which had persisted for centuries and which has not been changed until the 19th century in consequence of the female emancipation.
Nowadays it is common for women to work and to assure their own livelihood or the livelihood of their family. Women have become independent and are capable to master their lives without depending on men. In recent 15 years the importance of women’s income has increased and the traditional design of the male bread-earner crumbles. By this time about 18 percent of the German women are bread-earners. This can be referred to their situation as a single mother or to their partners who are not able to fulfil the role of the main earner. According to studies women on the one hand do not have equal rights as a man – have a look at the Gender Pay Gap study – but they are headed in the right direction and are supported by economy and politics.
Now there is the question coming up who is – within the age of emancipation – responsible for the unpaid tasks such as housework, child education, and elder care?
A survey carried out by the “Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)” shows that an average citizen works about 3.5 hours every day without being paid, whereas Germany exceeds this average with 3.6 working hours. Women still do the majority of the housework – no matter if they are employed or not. In comparison to German men, German women spend roughly 100 additional minutes for the daily housework, child education or care. Among the typical men jobs are still repairs or activities of craftsmen and there are few men who clean the house, cook or educate the children. In relation to voluntary work men and women are with 3 percent on the same level.
According to OECD the high share of women who does unpaid work can be referred to the higher percentage of women who – in contrast to the majority of men – work part-time instead of working full-time or is unemployed. Those countries which have a higher share of women in full-time employment also have a higher share of men doing unpaid work. Thus, the following can be recorded: The higher the share of employed women is, the higher is the balance of the total-working hours of men and women, paid as well as unpaid.
However, this is easier said than done: Women still have to face disadvantage on the job market because woman’s jobs are underpaid and there are slight chances for women to advance in those positions that are highly compensated. Due to that fact households in which women are the main earners often can be found in the sector of low income. And this is where the circle is completed: A survey carried out by the “Science Centre Berlin for Social Research” shows that wealthy women more often draw on household help and therefore must spend less time for unpaid housework than “poorer” women have to. Thus, the majority of the women have to do the housework on their own. Now, one could conclude what ought to be changed in order to decrease the unpaid working hours for women and to ensure an equality of total working hours for men and women: Firstly the childcare possibilities ought to be enhanced in order to give women the chance of working full-time – or the men ought to do the childcare. Secondly the career possibilities for women ought to be enhanced in order to give women the chance of having responsible and well paid jobs – and thirdly the salaries for men and women ought to be adjusted.
