key: cord-0816054-higq7wje
authors: Bahn, Kate; Cohen, Jennifer; van der Meulen Rodgers, Yana
title: A Feminist Perspective on COVID‐19 and the Value of Care Work Globally
date: 2020-05-07
journal: Gend Work Organ
DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12459
sha: 86c3b8562c3094e9532918b0066e5e06234dbd05
doc_id: 816054
cord_uid: higq7wje

The shared response to the COVID‐19 crisis demonstrates that the vast majority of society believes human well‐being ‐ not economic growth ‐ should be at the center of policy. COVID‐19 exposes the foundational role of care work, both paid and unpaid, to functioning societies and economies. Focusing on "production" instead of the sustainable reproduction of human life devalues care work and those who perform it. Women's physical and mental health, and the societies that rely on them, are at stake. When these policies are formulated, the field of feminist economics has valuable lessons for mitigating hardships as countries navigate the related economic fallout. A comprehensive response to the COVID‐19 crisis must recognize this gendered work as an integral part of the economic system that promotes human well‐being for all.

Natural disasters and health crises have gendered dimensions, a point repeatedly demonstrated across disciplines and an important argument raised in this publication by Boncori (2020) in the case of the coronavirus pandemic and academic lives. Early evidence of a gender disparity in mortality in China indicates a disadvantage for men, who are more likely to have a laboratory-confirmed case, but the gender differential is reversed for other, less clear-cut dimensions of the disease (Chen et al., 2020; Guan et al., 2020) . Of particular concern is the overrepresentation of women among low-wage workers on the frontlineincluding home health aides, nurses, and nursing assistantsand at the other end of the supply chainincluding those employed in the logistics and packing industry (Himmelstein and Venkataramani, 2019) . Women also stand to face the starkest employment losses, as retail, food service, and hospitality are among the industries already hardest hit. In most developed countries, low-wage workers at risk of unemployment are disproportionately minority women, particularly women of color (Averett, Argys, and Hoffman, 2018) .

The gendered dimensions of this crisis also apply within the home, where the gendered division of work has been slow to change. Women still do more of the unpaid care work than men around the globe (ILO, 2018; Sayer, 2005) . The COVID-19 outbreak has increased the need for home-based caring labor not only because of the closing of schools and childcare facilities, but also because more people are sick and need care.

Women's physical and mental health, and by extension, the societies that rely on women and the work they do, are at stake (Cohen and Venter, 2020; Geurts et al., 2005) .

This crisis points a spotlight on the need for care, both medical care by paid healthcare personnel as well as care in the home. Yet care work is often undervalued and invisible (Himmelstein and Venkataramani, 2019; Sayer 2005) . The perceived low value of care work paid and unpaid -and women's disproportionate responsibility in performing this work is an issue that has garnered long-term attention in the field of feminist economics, with valuable lessons for understanding how women are impacted by COVID-19 and mitigating hardships as countries navigate the related economic fallout (Power, 2004) .

Feminist research in economics has consistently highlighted the ways production depends on paid and unpaid work (Laslett and Brenner, 1989; Power, 2004; Vogel, 2013) . Social reproduction includes the day-to-day work assigned largely to womenhousehold labor, physical and emotional caregiving, and other work to meet human needsrequired to "maintain existing life and to reproduce the next generation" (Laslett and Brenner, 1989) .

Without the day-to-day work of social reproduction, entire social systems would collapse.

The value of women's paid and unpaid labor is increasingly apparent with the spread of COVID-19: as school close, the role of teachersdisproportionately womenand public education as a mechanism of support and care-giving for families is laid bare, as women working for pay scramble to arrange childcare. Across many countries, womenespecially women of colorare overrepresented among low-wage workers on the front line during the COVID-19 crisis. Many have no choice but to go to work even when they are at risk of contracting the virus or they are sick, and they cannot telecommute. Nursesdisproportionately womenand other first responders must continue to work for pay.

Women in grocery stores, where task segregation often places them in face-to-face interactions with customers, are essential workers and are newly being recognized as such (Tolich and Briar, 1999) .

Time-use surveys show that, as a group, women work longer than men in total, and they perform more unpaid work than men (ILO, 2018; Sayer, 2005) . Because women bear responsibility for social reproduction, during crises they may face increased pressure to substitute unpaid work for lost income, for example taking care of an ill relative at home rather than taking them to a clinic (ILO, 2018).

All over the world, women are also more likely to be single parents, meaning that women and their households are often more dependent on a single source of income and women provide financial support to more dependents on that income (Cohen, 2010) . Intensified pressure is likely to impact women's mental and physical health (Cohen and Venter, 2020; Geurts et al., 2005) .

Gender-aware policies recognize women's work outside of paid employment. More broadly, policy responses from national to local levels should be developed with a feminist perspective that puts due emphasis on the value of care and the power of interdependency, as the interchange of care and resources can sustain families and communities through difficult times (Banks, 2018; Power, 2004) .

In wealthier countries, a key policy response is to expand paid sick leave and family leave benefits. In the U.S., the second federal COVID-19 relief package passed March 18 includes for the first timepaid family and medical leave during this crisis to care for a sick or at-risk family member or oneself. This emergency paid leave policy applies to employees who need to care for children whose schools or daycare facilities closed. This legislation helps to meet the needs of some workers who are balancing care responsibilities, but almost half of the U.S. private sector workforce is not eligible. Other OECD countries are well ahead of the U.S. in terms of paid leave benefits. Further stimulus policy responses being implemented or considered across developed countries include expanded unemployment insurance, targeted cash transfers, universal basic income, and support for small businesses.

In poorer countries, the impacts of COVID on care-takers will be dire. The "social distancing" recommended in developed countries will be difficult to observe in overcrowded households, and may be impossible for women to adopt. Information advising people how to care for ill household members and themselves must be made available, along with hand sanitizer in urban areas, and tippy taps in rural areas. Assistance with obtaining food, medications, and maintaining access to utilities is likely to be needed. Community health workers and friendship bench-type mental health support for care providers may be valuable interventions for helping people cope with psychological distress (Chibanda et al., 2016) .

Efforts to mitigate intimate partner violence as tensions mount within households from the health crisis and associated economic insecurity should be prioritized. Domestic violence intensifies during disasters and crises (Gearhart et al., 2018) . The COVID-19 crisis is longer term, more people are confined to their homes, there is an uncertain endpoint, many are struggling financially, and people are scared and grieving. It is difficult to overstate the scale of this problem for those who are subject to abuse of all kinds. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Moreover, the crisis cannot be used as an excuse to divert resources away from women's reproductive health care and maternal and child health. For example, under directives to free up hospital beds and medical supplies, legislators in several U.S. states have classified abortions as elective and nonessential procedures that need to be postponed until the crisis is over. However, these restrictions do little if anything to divert necessary resources toward hospital care for coronavirus patients. Using COVID-19 as a rationale to limit women's access to reproductive health care services is a political maneuver that defies numerous studies in public health and social sciences showing the beneficial effects of investing in reproductive health. Such benefits, which include women's economic empowerment, expanded choice, and a sense of greater control over their lives, are critical in times of crisis (Bärnighausen et al., 2019; Gammage, Joshi, and Rodgers, 2020) .

Conclusion COVID-19 is not only a major economic and health shock, it may also be a major shock to social norms around the gendered distribution of work at home. Like natural disasters, a public health crisis alters daily living in such a way that may re-entrench gender norms, but also offers the opportunity to disrupt them. More parents are staying home due to workplace closures, with many employees in white collar jobs telecommuting if that is feasible. The home, usually a black box in neoclassical economics, has suddenly become a sphere of close scrutiny in academic and media discourse around caring labor and its power relations. In twoparent households, the allocation of work within the home depends not only on gendered social norms but also bargaining power and the opportunity cost of time allocated to domestic work. These issues have garnered attention during the COVID-19 crisis as families have been confined to their homes while attempting to work and care for children at the same time.

changing the gender distribution caring labor within the home and causing conflict in negotiating boundaries between work and family. We expect that telecommuting in the context of COVID-19 places disproportionate burdens on women. This question fits into the broader goal of seeking to understand how the nature of workboth paid and unpaidis changing during the enormous social and economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19

pandemic. The institutionalization of telecommuting may bring wider acceptance and adoption of other workplace policies such as job sharing and flex-time that place value on labor within the home.

COVID-19 exposes how the usual functioning of the labor market combines with gender roles to require more work from women than from men. Although many of the challenges for women are not unique to this time, COVID-19 exacerbates their impacts, and making this an important moment to advocate for policies that support their wellbeing, and that of the society their work sustains.

Economic policy should be constructed within a broader, feminist framework of human wellbeing and justice, rather than being solely concerned with the achievement of output-based metrics such as financial stability and economic growth. At minimum, in addition to capabilities (the ability to do or be) and self-efficacy, human well-being requires adequate provisioning through three interconnected channels: paid labor, unpaid care activities, and support from the government (Nussbaum, 2003; Sen, 1999) . Paramount in this approach is the need to address other types of injustice that may intersect with gender inequality, especially by race and class. Hence a comprehensive response to the COVID-19 crisis

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