Ecuador: Government wants to reduce the labor inequality between men and women

Quito, November 28 (Andes).- Women’s unpaid work in Ecuador is one of the main gaps that the country has yet to overcome. The Encuesta Específica de Uso del Tiempo (EUT – Specific Time Use Survey) conducted by INEC in 2012 show that out of all the time women devote to work, only 59.7% is paid, while 86.06% of men’s work is paid.

This study upholds that on average women devote 31 hours a week to housework and caring for others, against the nine hours men devote to those tasks. Gina Quintana, president of the Transition Committee, said that the survey reveals this inequality in conditions and promotes the creation of public policies to expand women’s active participation in the State.

“It is urgent to develop public policies to close this inequality gap. By becoming familiar with women’s work situation we can contribute to build policies to eradicate poverty, it also help us contribute to the conceptualization of women’s work, questioning workload division by gender. This survey is the basis to make public the work overload women have in their lives and the lack of financial autonomy”, she said.

THINKING OF MOVING TO ECUADOR? READ THIS BOOK

It was established that Ecuadorians devote 66 hours a week to their total working hours (paid plus unpaid work). Paid work is the one that takes most time – 49 hours a week – while unpaid work takes 18 hours a week for Ecuadorians

Quintana assured that the Committee will propose the implementation of actions such as the expansion of social security for employees who do housework at home and salary homologation for paid domestic work.

Although financial and social equality between men and women is still a pending issue, Soledad Buendía, Assemblywoman by Alianza País, emphasized that women’s historic struggle to become social agents allowed them to increase their participation in the public realm.

The official emphasized that through the 2008 Constitution women attained visible achievements such as the recognition of housework; the integration of women into electoral lists with parity and alternation; the issuance of Human Development bonds and loans to women heads of households; the transformation of children policies; the obligatory nature of mixed public schooling; and training on gender policies in military and police institutions.

Encuesta Específica de Uso del Tiempo (EUT – Specific Time Use Survey)

The Encuesta Específica de Uso del Tiempo establishes that in 2012 men devoted 6 hours a week to housework, while women devoted 24 hours a week.

Men devoted 3 hours 21 minutes to activities outside the home and women devoted 4:23 hours a week to those activities.

Men devoted 5:20 hours a week to care for others, while women devoted 8:56 hours to that task per week.

Men devoted 30:31 hours to study, while women devoted 28:07 hours. Read Article