Evening Talk #4 Dies Natalis FEB UI: Economic Participation and Women’s Welfare in the Family
Rifdah Khalisha – Public Relations FEB UI
DEPOK – (21/10/2021) On Thursday (21/10), FEB UI held a Series 4 Evening Talk with the Department of Economics and the Demography Institute FEB UI with the theme “Economic Participation and Women’s Welfare in the Family” as part of the 71st Series Anniversary Events.
Present as a speaker was Prani Sastiono, Ph.D. (FEB UI lecturer) and Diahhadi Setyonaluri, Ph.D. (Lecturer and Researcher FEB UI). Also present were Turro Selrits Wongkaren, Ph.D. (Chairman of the Demographic Institute of FEB UI) as the host.
In her remarks, the Secretary of FEB UI Herda J. T. Pradsmadji, M.Pd. said, “Economics is not only related to the financial aspect. More broadly, economics covers a wide range of human behavior and its implications. Therefore, all human decisions can be seen from an economic perspective, including decisions within a family.”
According to Herda, the family is the smallest economic unit, from here begins important decisions that lead to economic behavior. We know this area to be household economics or household economy. This discussion began to intensify since the publication of Gary Becker’s scientific work in the early 1960s. For a long time, FEB UI has realized the significance of quantity, quality, and population composition in the development of a nation.
She explained, “Today, the Afternoon Talk will discuss topics that are often discussed in household economics, namely economic participation and women’s welfare in the family. Without us realizing it, the role of women in economic value decisions in the aggregate can determine market movements.”
Later, Prani explained her research, “According to previous research from abroad, pandemics can exacerbate pre-existing inequalities, and disproportionately inequalities in women. Meanwhile, the Komnas Perempuan Study (2020), found that there was an increase in tension in the household, and women carried more unpaid household work burdens than men.
This prompted Prani and her colleagues from LPEM FEB UI to research it. They collected 1,000 respondents through an online survey, taking into account the balance of age, region and gender. Then, 203 respondents through telephone interviews, divided into 168 respondents for the public survey and 35 respondents from women who have survived gender-based violence.
She shared the findings, “For 25 to 30 percent of respondents, COVID-19 has had a positive impact in the form of family closeness. The frequency of disputes with spouse or children is reduced. Not only that, respondents also reported an increase in recreational or relaxation activities.
“For other respondents, COVID-19 has caused conflict and suspicion due to limited mobility. There are challenges in terms of economic conditions, employment and incomes have fallen sharply, which often leads to fights,” she continued.
About 42 percent of respondents said they experienced an increase in violence during the pandemic, both against women and men. Spouses are the main perpetrators of the violence. After researching this, Prani found the main factors driving violence are, including not being able to make ends meet, not having a job, and not being able to carry double burdens.
Apparently, there are still gender-related norms related to the occurrence of violence. In preventing and handling such violence, it is necessary to implement gender equality at all levels, expand socialization about pandemic support programs, provide access and information on psychosocial support, as well as empower women before, during, and after the disaster.
Furthermore, Diahhadi explained research on social norms and women’s economic participation in urban Indonesia. “We already know that Indonesia has a gender gap in work participation which is quite stagnant, about 85 percent of men and 53.4 percent of women. In fact, that gap has not changed for nearly two decades.”
Cameran et al (2019) considered an indication of a shift in norms, in that younger and more educated women in urban areas were more likely to participate in the workforce. Improved education, urbanization, and structural transformation helped negotiate these gender restrictions.
Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased unpaid care work for women and allowed traditional norms to continue. At the same time, however, the female labor force participation rate increased by 1.2 percent between 2019 and 2020.
“At home, men do more of the housework, but women do more of the unpaid care work. Many respondents mentioned ‘kodrat‘ for the role of women as someone who takes care of their children and husband. Social norms view the ideal woman as a woman who is strong, able to maintain the balance of her family and household. There is also the view that a mother is a ‘madrasa‘ or school’ for her children,” he said.
Workplace norms revolve around norms that idealize gender stereotypes. Companies consider women more suitable for administrative work and men more suitable for physical or technical work. This biased preference creates an “acceptance” of ideally that men receive higher wages than women. On the other hand, there is positive support about women being able to become leaders in the workplace because they seem to care more.
Finally, Diahhadi advises, “Policies should focus on reducing the burden on women in one or both domains—home and work—so as to allow women more options to choose and carry out their roles. In addition, there needs to be a change in the norms and culture that applies to gender.” (hjtp)
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