Womenomics by Peter Ramsaroop of Vision Guyana
September 26, 2008
INTRODUCTION
Over the last two years, since my separation and divorce, I have learned what it is like to really take care of my children when I have them, what it is like to cook, clean, get them ready for school and get them there on time, and then helping them with homework and waking up and doing it all over again.
I couldn’t help but think of the women that ensure that their families are taken care of while the breadwinner goes off to work, as well as those that work and then come home and get dinner ready or help their children with homework and get them ready for bed.
And imagine the single mothers that have to do it all on their own without any assistance. Women that work and contribute to the household income must also be commended.
Sometimes we forget the sacrifices that women contribute to our society. Organizations such as Red Thread and others have done a great service for those in need.
I know the young Minister of Human Services is working aggressively at addressing the needs of single parents. The government has a significant role to play outside of social help in the areas of taxes and job training.
THE VALUE
Economists have argued for two different methods to measure the value of a woman’s contribution to the household: the opportunity cost method and the replacement cost method.
The fundamental idea behind the opportunity cost method is “what does the household sacrifice by having the woman stay at home to work?” In other words, what is the opportunity cost of a woman’s time?
If she can earn GY$30,000 a month, and she decides to forgo an hour of work to do the dishes, the cost of that task is $187.00 per hour. The economist then says the GY$187 measures the value of an hour of a woman or housewife’s service.
The replacement cost approach to the problem asks: “how much would it cost to replace the services of the housewife?”
The idea being one could go into the market place, find the wage for nannies, cooks, after-school teaching, etc., and then use these wages as the value of the housewife services. Sometimes an average is used; sometimes the wage within each specialty is used.
WOMEN IN THE WORK PLACE
I was speaking to a young teacher this week who has to buy materials out of her own salary to teach our children, materials such as board erasers, rulers and teaching aids.
Studies have shown that many women are not given the same opportunities or wages as men when it comes to promotions.
Many men also still expect their women when they come home from work to do all the chores It is widely known that women are not relieved from their household duties when they take up remunerative work outside their home.
It is, thus, hypothesized that working women will manage to do their household work in lesser time by increasing their efficiency or lessening their burden by getting help from others, including their husbands. For most of the cases, this is not really so.
FORMAL PROGRAMS NEEDED
I would advocate and support Minister Manickchand for her work in supporting single mothers and job training programs. Both my organization Vision Guyana and the Benschop Foundation have contributed significantly to single mothers.
I would challenge the Minister to push for reduction in income taxes and tax credits for working couples with children, who must pay for child care and other expenses such as school transportation. Public and free transportation for school children and teachers are needed.
Many women teachers end up also being counsellors for children that may have low self esteem as a result of unstable, abusive or neglected homes. Yet teachers’ pay here in Guyana is one of the lowest in the world.
CONCLUSION
Women have contributed and continue to contribute to our nation’s development in many areas of expertise. Men must take on larger roles in the household whether or not your spouse or partner is working in or outside the home. There is a great cost for those women that stay home and keep the household together.
The sugar workers’ spouses who get up every morning at four o’clock to get their husband’s or partner’s lunch together must still be around when they come home for dinner. The sugar workers have asked for a needed pay raise, which is yet to be resolved.
Other areas must be the reduction in taxes for all. I give my highest respect to the women who everyday make our households, our children, and our nation a better place to live.
Peter Ramsaroop
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