63 percent of the unpaid care work is done by women, including the Green women’s spokeswoman Meri Disoski in a broadcast. Women’s income and independence would suffer as a result.
According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, men should also take on care work as a matter of course in the future. To this end, the gender-sensitive work with boys and boys has been further expanded since last year with funding of around one million euros. On “Boys’ Day” boys are also introduced to nursing professions. The Ministry of Social Affairs also supports the EU project “Caring Masculinities in Action”, which aims to sensitize experts in education and counteract models of masculinity that promote violence. The nationwide men’s counseling service is also being funded with one million euros in order to change gender roles in men.
32 hours a week unpaid work by women
Disoski, meanwhile, started with the women. These would spend 32 hours a week on unpaid care work – raising children, caring and housework – men only 16 hours. Gross lifetime income and later pensions for women would fall as a result, while economic dependency on partners and the risk of poverty in old age would increase. “We can create the legal framework for this with modern models of part-time work for parents and parental leave and a legal right to childcare from the age of one,” she said, adding that the coalition partner was aware of the proposals.
Grandparents often look after their grandchildren free of charge, because many working parents – especially women – are dependent on them because childcare facilities close early, Hob said Bedrana Ribo, spokeswoman for the Greens for care and seniors, in a broadcast. This would save society a lot of money. If the elderly or other relatives have to be cared for themselves, this work is usually left to the women. “50 percent of these women are over 60 years old, so they are often already retired themselves,” said Ribo. She welcomed the introduction of community nurses, which, among other things, should relieve this group.
Also FPÖ spokeswoman for women and senior citizens Rosa Ecker criticized that care work is not sufficiently rewarded. Paternal leave has not been sufficiently received in society, a young family cannot afford for the father to take parental leave. “Women who do care work, be it caring for relatives or looking after children, save costs for the general public,” she said. “Women and families should and must be given the opportunity to decide for themselves how to divide up and organize their care responsibilities. We must provide these women with sufficient security for their care work, whether for children or caring for relatives, so that they later receive a corresponding pension .” The full credit for pension periods and amounts is overdue.
NEOS Women’s Spokesperson Henrike Brandstoetter referred to the economic effects of the unequal distribution of work on women and the economy as a whole: “Because the proportion of unpaid work done by women is 30 percent of our gross domestic product. That’s almost 120 billion euros that are slipping through our fingers because classic role models are stubborn keep.” She also called for sufficient childcare places and a legal entitlement to this from the first year of life.
Source: Nachrichten
