Campus updates
COVID-19 and the value of care work
22 May 2020 | Story Ameeta Jaga. Photo Pexels. Voice Nash Makado. Read time 6 min.
Those working from home may find themselves catching up with paid work late at night or when their children have so-called screen time, writes Associate Professor Ameeta Jaga from the School of Management Studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Covid-19 has brought the value of care work under the spotlight.
The lockdown has forced many South Africans to juggle full time paid work and unpaid care work, with home schooling added to the expansive multiple role demands.
Historically women have taken responsibility for childcare and the domestic economy in the private sphere of the home.
No doubt, we have witnessed a significant shift in men taking on more family and household commitments, though being confined to one’s home in lockdown is revealing the persisting gender inequality in care work and just how much time and energy it demands.
Business as usual
When the lockdown necessitates organisations to shift to a work-from-home model, providing technology support to keep employees “always connected” for “business as usual” but just online, there seems to be a limited amount of consideration as to who is picking up all the care work that simultaneously needs to happen in the home.
South African companies remain mostly headed by teams of male senior decision makers (80%), so the multifaceted nature and demands of unpaid caring may not be a priority focus when determining these alternative work strategies.
There is increasing evidence that women are taking on the additional physical and mental loads of care work during the lockdown with resulting negative effects on their careers and personal wellbeing.
For those who can work from home, they find themselves catching up with paid work late at night or when their children have so-called screen time.
Overwhelmed and exhausted
As many women try to hold everything together using a 24-hour day to manage competing demands, more and more women are feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
While we could focus on proximal strategies within the home on how working parents can more fully share household, schooling and childcare responsibilities, there remains deeper concerns (and opportunities) in how paid work is designed and what organisations value.
The duration of the lockdown being unpredictable and the likelihood of work-from-home continuing for months to come, if not remaining the norm for some, calls for organisations to rethink the unsustainable productivity of care and paid work at home, especially when work dynamics of capitalism pushing productivity is expected in the intimate space of the home.
These expectations may only deepen gender inequities.
Instead, recreating post lockdown organisations with an explicit consideration to the important need and value for care work will sustain our society and economy.
Transforming workplace cultures, work expectations, work from home strategies and leadership development, should be a done with a deep acknowledgement and value for employees’ unpaid caring roles in their families and communities. History shows us that pandemics are times for shifting social norms.
The consequence of neglecting these changes, is that we may see more women leaving the formal economy, a widening gender pay gap, and a heavier mental health burden on the country.
In the short term, how can workplaces support employees with caregiving responsibilities during the lockdown and in the future, so that women are not disproportionately disadvantaged through gender inequalities at work and at home under Covid-19?
Empathy goes a long way
Managers should try to understand employees’ care giving commitments and work with them to help manage the pressures from competing work and family demands.
A bottom up approach
Business leaders can engage with employees asking for ways in which they can be best supported to help meet their work and family care commitments. Employees working from home may have different but equally important needs and challenges to essential workers.
Male role models
Encouraging male employees to share their success stories of combining unpaid care work with paid work can inspire other male employees to take on more household and family responsibilities.
Reduce Zoom fatigue
Limit the amount of face to face online meetings and offer flexible work hours where employees can schedule their work in the best way for them to meet their care giving commitments.
Where possible, provide support for employees’ mental wellbeing
In this unprecedented time of lockdown with multiple role demands converging into a single space, psychological conditions such as anxiety, burnout and depression are likely to be exacerbated.
First line supervisors can be a key agent for change in raising the organisation’s value of care work because of their proximity to employees on a day to day basis to help them manage their work and family roles, but their efforts need to be supported and encouraged by senior management.
This will endorse the message that unpaid care work is important – a critical step toward improving gender equity at work.
Coronavirus Disease 2019 updates
COVID-19 is a global pandemic that caused President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a national disaster in South Africa on 15 March and implement a national lockdown from 26 March.
UCT is taking the threat of infection in our university community extremely seriously, and this page will be updated regularly with the latest COVID-19 information.
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Getting credible, evidence-based, accessible information and recommendations relating to COVID-19
The Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, are producing educational video material for use on digital platforms and in multiple languages. The information contained in these videos is authenticated and endorsed by the team of experts based in the Department of Medicine. Many of the recommendations are based on current best evidence and are aligned to provincial, national and international guidelines. For more information on UCT’s Department of Medicine, please visit the website.
To watch more videos like these, visit the Department of Medicine’s YouTube channel.
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As the COVID-19 crisis drags on and evolves, civil society groups are responding to growing and diversifying needs – just when access to resources is becoming more insecure, writes UCT’s Prof Ralph Hamann.
03 Jul 2020 - 6 min read Republished
The Covid-19 crisis has reinforced the global consequences of fragmented, inadequate and inequitable healthcare systems and the damage caused by hesitant and poorly communicated responses.
24 Jun 2020 - >10 min read Opinion
Our scientists must not practise in isolation, but be encouraged to be creative and increase our knowledge of the needs of developing economies, write Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, vice-chancellor of UCT, and Professor Thokozani Majozi from the University of the Witwatersrand.
09 Jun 2020 - 6 min read Republished
South Africa has been recognised globally for its success in flattening the curve, which came as a result of President Ramaphosa responding quickly to the crisis, writes Prof Alan Hirsch.
28 Apr 2020 - 6 min read Republished
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In an email to the UCT community, Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng said:
“COVID-19, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, is a rapidly changing epidemic. [...] Information [...] will be updated as and when new information becomes available.”
We are continuing to monitor the situation and we will be updating the UCT community regularly – as and when there are further updates. If you are concerned or need more information, students can contact the Student Wellness Service on 021 650 5620 or 021 650 1271 (after hours), while staff can contact 021 650 5685.