Ray Martin A. Manuel, UP Diliman Information Office correspondent
For many women, house work remains invisible labor, and care work in society is often overlooked. This was the central theme of the awareness seminar Advancing Gender Equality in the Care Economy.
According to Excelsa C. Tongson, DSD, care economy consists of paid care work, such as domestic work and caregiving professions, and unpaid care work, which includes everyday household tasks like cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing. Tongson is a professor at the èAV Department of Family Life and Child Development, and the featured speaker at the seminar.
At the seminar, Tongson discussed part of her research, Examining Unpaid Care Work of Women in the Sandwich Generation: Pathways Towards Social Protection and Wellbeing.
She noted that unpaid care work is often “tucked within the mundane, everyday lives of women and girls,” making it largely invisible despite its critical role in sustaining families and communities.
She emphasized that care work—both paid and unpaid—is fundamental to human well-being and the functioning of the economy.
Drawing from her personal and professional experiences, Tongson shared how her early work with women’s organizations exposed structural gender inequalities, particularly the limited opportunities available to women due to traditional roles.
She recounted her decision to leave formal employment for six years to care for her children due to lack of accessible childcare services.
Unlike her who had the choice to stop working to care for her family, Tongson said there are, “many [who] are forced out of work, lose social protection, and become financially dependent.”
Tongson highlighted how these realities shape her research on unpaid care work, the care economy, and the “sandwich generation”—individuals who simultaneously care for their children and aging parents.
At the seminar, male participants were asked to complete a 24-hour activity log to reflect on how much time they spend on unpaid house work. The activity revealed that the male participants spend significantly less time on daily housework compared to their female counterparts.
Tongson noted that even as male participation in household tasks increases,, women still carry the heavier burden. She said this leads to “time poverty.”
According to the article Time Poverty: Conceptualization, Gender Differences, and Policy Solutions by Yana Van Der Meulen Rodgers in the book Social Philosophy & Policy and published online by Cambridge University Press on 5 Feb. 2024, “time poverty is a gendered issue, with relatively more women than men considered to be time poor”. It refers to “the notion that to stay above a nonpoor level of consumption, households need a minimal amount of time in addition to income.”
To address the inequalities between men and women, Tongson introduced the “R framework” used in care economy discourse: recognizing unpaid care work, redistributing responsibilities within households, reducing the burden on women, representing women in public and economic spaces, rewarding paid care workers with fair compensation, and resourcing care systems through government support. This framework may have additional “R” concepts in the future.
“If we redistribute care work, we reduce the load on women,” she explained. “That gives them time to pursue education, work, and even self-care.”
Tongson also underscored the economic implications of care work, citing studies that estimate its global value in the trillions of dollars. She noted that underpaid care workers often end up subsidizing households and the broader economy.
“We need accessible, affordable, and quality care services, as well as decent work for care workers,” she said.
Tongson emphasized that care work must be recognized as essential labor that sustains both households and the broader economy. She underscored that while the Philippines has existing policy frameworks addressing care work, there are gaps in its implementation. To address this challenge, Tongson said there should be more research, localized programs, and sustained institutional support.
Advancing Gender Equality in the Care Economy was held at the UP Diliman School of Economics (SE) in celebration of Women’s Month. — With reports from Justine D. Baguio, UP Diliman Information Office correspondent
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