A new report says most rural women spend much of their time doing household chores that were of no economic value. The report, by ActionAid, an international NGO, says activities like collecting firewood, fetching water, among others, leaves housewives economically dependent on their spouses.
A new report says most rural women spend much of their time doing household chores that were of no economic value. The report, by ActionAid, an international NGO, says activities like collecting firewood, fetching water, among others, leaves housewives economically dependent on their spouses.
For a country that has channeled so much effort into policies geared toward the empowerment of women, such a report ignites fast response.
The study, sampled in Rwanda and Ghana, recommends that reducing women burden from unpaid chores can be done by prioritising public investments in areas such as early childhood education, healthcare decentralisation, woodlots and water.
The government has already pledged to accelerate an ActionAid initiative seeking to establish early childcare centres across the country as one of the solutions to the highlighted housewifery problem.
But this would never solve much. The childcare centres in themselves require money. The rural folks cannot afford that ‘luxury.’ Besides, there is much more to house chores. This calls for more ambitious efforts to be pushed forward to alleviate the challenges housewives face.
The government needs to push through policies with immediate impact on the socio-economic empowerment of women so that they are not dependent on their husbands. Through Saccos, for instance, women can have projects to run alongside housewifery.
This government has a lot to be proud of in terms of women emancipation and empowerment. With the world’s record for majority women in legislation (64 per cent in the Chamber of Deputies), all appears to be on track, but the true face of women empowerment should be felt more in the rural areas than in the capital.
It is in the rural households that the face of gender disparity is stark. If government turns the tides on the economic abilities of the rural women, then the entire puzzle is settled.
Perhaps it is time for women legislators to make their presence felt among the rural folks. Cutting down on housewifery will put women firmly in driving seat.