The impact of ‘compensating’ women for hours of unpaid care work on household poverty

dc.contributor.authorShedi, Olwethu
dc.contributor.supervisorBenhura, Miracle
dc.date.accessioned2025-06-06T08:21:06Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.descriptionA research report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Commerce (Economics), In the Faculty of Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economics and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024
dc.description.abstractEstimating the effect of ‘compensating’ women for unpaid care work on household poverty levels, we used Time Use Survey data for 2000 and 2010 to estimate time spent on unpaid care work, and Post-Apartheid Labour Market Series to estimate earnings for both 2000 and 2010. To achieve this, we used the Economy- wide Mean wage approach, the Opportunity Cost Average wage approach, and the Generalist wage approach. In line with literature, we confirm that, on average, women spend more time on unpaid care work than men do, and that women's average earnings are lower than that of men. We found that the estimated monthly ‘compensation’ does indeed reduce the level of household poverty. However, the Generalist wage approach compensation had the least impact on household poverty levels. Unpaid care work affects women all around the world. While some countries have made progress in recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care work, women continue to bear the brunt of the burden. Governments have a role to play in encouraging a more equitable distribution of unpaid household care duties. Flexible work hours and shared parental leave are two options for businesses to facilitate more equitable split of unpaid family care duties and assist women in achieving a better work/life balance.
dc.description.submitterMM2024
dc.facultyFaculty of Commerce, Law and Management
dc.identifier0000-0003-1739-7764
dc.identifier.citationShedi, Olwethu . (2024). The impact of ‘compensating’ women for hours of unpaid care work on household poverty [Masters dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WIReDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/45078
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/45078
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.rights© 2024 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
dc.rights.holderUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.schoolSchool of Economics and Finance
dc.subjectUCTD
dc.subjectCompensation
dc.subjectUnpaid care work
dc.subjectHousehold poverty
dc.subjectvaluing unpaid care work
dc.subject.primarysdgSDG-8: Decent work and economic growth
dc.titleThe impact of ‘compensating’ women for hours of unpaid care work on household poverty
dc.typeDissertation

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