A study from gender perspective on actual condition of sharing housework in vietnam

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THU HA A STUDY FROM GENDER PERSPECTIVE ON ACTUAL CONDITION OF SHARING HOUSEWORK IN VIETNAM MASTER'S THESIS Hanoi, 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THU HA A STUDY FROM GENDER PERSPECTIVE ON ACTUAL CONDITION OF SHARING HOUSEWORK IN VIETNAM MAJOR: PUBLIC POLICY CODE: PILOT RESEARCH SUPERVISOR: Prof Dr NAOHISA OKAMOTO Dr BUI HAI THIEM Hanoi, 2019 Acknowledgement First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Prof Okamoto Naohisa and Dr Bui Hai Thiem Prof Okamoto has patiently provided me with wholeheartly support during my internship in University of Tsukuba and insightful comments and comprehensive instruction Also, Dr Bui Hai Thiem has provided me useful information related to Vietnamese context and introduced me a number of gender experts for in-depth interviews Their guidance and support have greatly contribute to my Master thesis accomplishment I also would like to give special thanks to Dr Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Director of the Development and Polices Research Center (DEPOCEN) for allowing me to use data of time-use survey conducted by the Center in 2017 Finally, my sincere thanks also go to my colleagues at DEPOCEN, Mr Kentaro Takeda – my tutor at University of Tsukuba and Vietnam Japan University, especially the Master program in Public Policy for support during my thesis writing progress i Table of Contents Acknowledgement List of tables List of figure List of abbreviations CHAPTER – Background and Research Purpose 1.1 Background 1.2 Research purpose CHAPTER – Literature review 2.1 Researches on unpaid care work in t 2.2.1 Understanding of unpaid care work/housework 2.2.2 Unpaid care work and the issue of gender inequality 2.2 Researches on unpaid care work in V CHAPTER – Methodology 3.1 Time use survey questionnaire 3.2 Quantitative data collection 3.3 Description of sample 3.4 Qualitative data collection CHAPTER – Main Findings 4.1 Time spending on doing housework 4.2 Time distribution on other rountine 4.3 Nexus between time spending on hou CHAPTER 5: Policy Implications CHAPTER 6: Conclusion 48 REFERENCE LIST 50 ANNEX – Time-use survey questionnaire 54 ANNEX – Interview questions 62 ANNEX – T-test (DEPOCEN time-use data) 63 List of tables Table 1.1 The gender divide in the labor market in advanced economies Table 2.1 Time spent in unpaid work and paid work, by sex of OECD countries Table 3.1 Activity categories and code Table 3.2 Characteristics of respodents Table 3.3 Respondents by provinces and gender Table 3.4 List of gender experts Table 5.1 Differece in averange time on activity categories in female and male stata, by geography, marital status and income Table 5.2 Respondents’ satisfaction level with the life by gender (%) Table 5.3 Women’ satisfaction level with the life based on average time for homemaking (%) Table 6.1 Vietnam’s legal framework for women’s rights and gender equality List of figure Figure 1.1 Annual GDP growth in the period of 1986 to 2017(%) .8 Figure 4.1 Average time spent doing housework by gender and by nations (min) 30 Figure 4.2 Time spending on doing housework by gender and marital status (min) 31 Figure 4.3 Time spending on doing housework by gender and marital status (min) 32 Figure 4.4 Time spending on doing housework by gender and education level (min) .33 Figure 4.5 Time spending on doing housework by gender and income groups (min) 34 Figure 4.6 Time spending on doing housework by gender and urban-rural (min) 35 Figure 4.7 Time spending on doing housework by gender and urban-rural (min) 38 List of abbreviations DEPOCEN Developement and Policies Research Center GDP Gross domestic product GSO General Statistics Office of Viet Nam ILO The International Labor Organization OECD The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development UNDP The United Nations Development Programme CHAPTER – Background and Research Purpose 1.1 Background Building upon the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, 17 Sustainable Development Goals in September was developed by the United Nations General Assembly that culminated at a blueprint for peace and prosperity for human and planet, now and into the future (McInnes, 2018) Among these goals, reduced inequalities is deemed as one of the most pertinent global challenges Numerous facts show that we are living in “a world in which one percent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 percent”(Address et al., 2019) For instance, since 2015, the richest 1% has accumulated more wealth than the rest of the planet (Shorrocks, Davies, & Lluberas, 2016) Or, the incomes of the poorest 10% of the population has increased by less than $3 a year between 1988 and 2011, while the incomes of the richest 1% has increased 182 times as much (Hardoon, 2017) Under this context of growing inequality, it is recognised that women are likely to fall into the bottom half of the income distribution for the lower opportunities prevalent for women to participate in the labor market than those for men (ILO, 2016) Women are also reported to earn between 31% to 75% less than men for equal work of equal value (UN Women, 2015) The World Economic Forum’s annual report in 2016 even estimates that it will take 170 years for women to be paid the same as men (World Economic Forum, 2016) According to recent statistics, even in advanced economies which have succeeded in eliminating gender disparities in education, men continue to dominate high-income groups while women remain disproportionately responsible for carrying out unpaid housework in the home Furthermore, the wealth and income inequality trends become increasingly prominent internationally (Hardoon, 2017) Table 1.1 The gender divide in the labor market in advanced economies % of women in % of women in the top 10% income group the top 1% income group Share of unpaid care work done by women (latest year) Spain 2010 Denmark 2013 Canada 2013 New Zealand 2013 Italy 2014 UK 2013 Australia 2012 Norway 2013 Note: Reprinted from OECD stat Employment: Time spent in paid and unpaid work, by sex Retrived from http://www.lse.ac.uk/InternationalInequalities/pdf/IIIWorking-Paper-5 -Atkinson.pdf Some studies ascertained that the primary factors causing the economic disparity between men and women are skill and qualification (Bryan & Sevilla-Sanz, 2011) And housework is listed as one of most significant factors explaining gender economic gap (Becker, 1985) Becker argues that housework causes women to spend less time on market work, lowering their investment in market human capital Indeed, he claims that housework indirectly lowers the wage rate of women It could be said that the disparity becomes a concern for ‘gender justice’ not only because the tasks and the women who perform them are undervalued, but also because a disproportionately higher level of care work restricts personal growth and professional development (Marphatia & Moussié, 2013) Viet Nam is located in the Eastern part of the Indochina peninsula, bordering China to the North, Laos and Cambodia to the West Historically, Vietnam fell under the dominant rule of a series of Chinese dynasties for 1,000 years that resulted in the heavy influence of Chinese culture and ideology Subsequently, two bloody wars against French colonization and American War ruined and pushed the country into Rost, L., & Koissy-Kpein, S (2017) Infrastructure and equipment for unpaid care work: Household survey findings from the Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe Saadia, Z., Thierry, G., & Robert, C (2018) Insight Report: The Global Gender Gap Report 2018 In World Economic Forum https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X04267098 Samantroy, E., & Giri, V V (2015) Reconciling Work and Family Life: A Study of Women’s Time Use Patterns, Unpaid Work and Workplace Policies Retrieved from www.vvgnli.org Shorrocks, A., Davies, J B., & Lluberas, R (2016) Suisse AG Research Institute The Journal of the American College of Dentists, 73(1), 27–28 Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17020174 Statistical Commission of the United Nations (1993) System of National Accounts 1993 6.20 page 150 Statistical Commission of the United Nations (2008) System of National Accounts, 2008 (2008 SNA) In United Kingdom National Accounts - The Blue Book (Vol 2008) https://doi.org/10.1057/ukna.2008.3 Stiglitz, Joseph E; Sen, Amartya; Fitoussi, J.-P (2008) Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress Sustainable Development, 12, 292 https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1714428 Thu Phuong (2019) There are still many enteprises break rule on social insurance Retrieved from Industry and Trade Online Newspaper website: https://congthuong.vn/van-con-nhieu-doanh-nghiep-lach-luat-tron-dong-baohiem-xa-hoi-114655.html Tien, V M (2017) Home Appliances and Gender Gap of Time Spent on Unpaid Housework: Evidence Using Household Data From Vietnam The Singapore Economic Review, 64(01), 97–114 https://doi.org/10.1142/s0217590817430019 UN Women (2015) Transforming Economies, Realizing Rights Progress of the World’S Women 2015-2016 Retrieved from http://progress.unwomen.org United Nations (1953) A System of National Accounts and Supporting Tables 1953 Viet Nam News (2016) Women’s housework should be part of GDP: researchers World Bank (2018) Climbing the ladder : poverty reduction and shared prosperity in Vietnam 1–49 Retrieved from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/206981522843253122/Climbingthe-ladder-poverty-reduction-and-shared-prosperity-in-Vietnam World Economic Forum (2016) The global gender gap report 2016 Insight Report The In World Economic Forum (Vol 25) https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X04267098 52 Yew Heng Lim , Mariam Jaafar, J W (n.d.) Capitalizing on Asia ’ s Booming Upper Middle Class Retrieved from https://www.bcg.com/publications/2016/globalization-growth-capitalizingasias-booming-upper-middle-class.aspx Tran, T V Anh & Le, N Hung (1997): Women and Doi Moi in Vietnam Hanoi: Women Publishing House Tran, N A (2004) What’s women’s work? Male negotiation and gender reproduction in the Vietnamese garment industry In Rydstrom, H & Dummond, L (ed.) Gender Practices in Contemporary Vietnam Singapore: NUS 53 ANNEX – Time-use survey questionnaire PART G: INFORMATION OF HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS G1 How many people are there in your household? _people G2 Please provide some information related to household members as listing out in G1? No Full name Gender Male Female (1) (2) (3) (5) Relationship with the head of household? Head household Spouse Father/Mother Grandchildren (7) (Ask only members 18 and older) Marital status? Single Married (8) (Ask only members and older) Highest education qualification? Do not go to school Not completed primary school yet Primary school Junior high school High school 54 (10) (Ask only members 15 and older) Employment / learning status in the last month? (multiple choice) Working / Employing (Work/participate in manufacturing and business activities from hour or above to earn income or receive salary/wage, work from 1h or more in a month to create income for the family without salary/wage) In the stay (maternity leave, seasonal vacation, school leave, production suspension ) Pupil/Student Elderly, disable people who cannot work, lose ability to work Housewife Waiting for job / Looking for job / No job / Losing job Other, specify (eg retired): ………………… (11) Ask only if (10) = 1, If you are working], what is your main occupation? (only one option) Teachers, doctors, nurses, pharmacists Soldiers, policeman Business owner Leader / manager (in enterprises, state agencies Eg director, head of department) Senior staff with high professional qualifications (in enterprises, state agencies Eg such as engineers, accountants ) Workers and other unskilled workers (in enterprises, state agencies Eg security guard, cleaner) (12) The number of hours working the main occupation in the past month? …………… hours (can be a decimal number) (13) Income from working the main occupation over the past month? ……………million dong (can be a decimal number) 55 PART F: OTHER INFORMATION OF HOUSEHOLD F1 In 2016, is your household poor/near poor? 1.Poor F2 What is your average monthly income in the last 12 months from all sources (including income in kind, interest from the savings book) … million dong/month (can be a decimal number Write -99 if don’t remember, -88 if refuse to answer Move to F3 if having answer) F2a If respondent does not remember (-99) / not want to answer (-88), enumerator asks to choose one of the following options: Less than million From to less than million From to less than million From to less than 10 million From 10 to less than 15 million F3 What is your household’s average monthly income in the 12 months from all sources (including in kind)? (The calculation of income for the whole family is similar as respondent's income calculation formula in F2 The answer in F3 must be greater than or equal to F3) ………………… million dong/month (can be a decimal number Write -99 if don’t remember, -88 if refuse to answer Move to Part I if having answer) F3a If respondent does not remember (-99) / not want to answer (-88), enumerator asks to choose one of the following options: Less than million From to less than million From to less than million From to less than 10 million From 10 to less than 15 million 56 PART I: TIME USE I1 [Enumerator auto-write, not ask respondent] Whom is daily diary section below? (Only one option) Main respondent who answer main questionnaire of tobacco I5 Other → Move to If respondent is not the person who answered the main questionnaire, enumerator asks and inputs some information in I2, I3, I4 I2 Number of the member in G2:……………… I3 Full name: I4 Telephone number: I5 Now, I will ask some information about how you used yest (from 4am yesterday to 4am today) I5a Activities I5a Yesterday, at am, what were you doing? (only one option) No Activities Sleep Personal activities (gr Eating Household activities 4.1 Housework (interior cl 4.2 Food & Drink Prep., P 4.3 Interior Maintenance, R Household Managemen 4.4 management, etc.) 4.5 Others Caring For & Helping 57 No Activities Caring For & Helping HH C 5.1 playing with hh children, etc Activities Related to HH Ch 5.2 Waiting associated with hh c 5.3 Activities Related to HH Ch 5.4 Caring and Helping for Hou 5.5 Others Caring For & Helping No Work- & Work-Related A 7.1 Work, main job Work-Related Activities (E 7.2 relaxing, and leisure as pa 7.3 Other Income-generating A 7.4 Job Search and Interviewin 7.5 Others Education 8.1 Taking class for degree, ce 8.2 Taking extra class (at scho 8.3 Extracurricular School Act 8.4 Research/homework 8.5 Others Socializing, Relaxing, and 9.1 Socializing and communic 9.2 Attending or hosting partie 9.3 Attending/hosting sport ev 9.4 Attending movies/film 9.5 Using social networks (Fac 58 No Activities Relaxing (Reading, wa 9.6 etc.) 9.7 Reading books, newspa 9.8 Watching TV, listening 9.9 Relaxing 9.10 Others 10 Consumer Purchases 10.1 Food Shopping (Store, 10.2 Shopping (Store, Telep 10.3 Researching Purchases 10.4 Others 11 Telephone Calls (to or 12 Participating in Sport 13 Participation in religi 14 Participation in Volun Using personal care se 15 health and care servic Using Government Se 16 taxes, etc.) Using Household Serv and cleaning services, 17 services, etc.) 18 Traveling 18.1 Travel Related to Work 18.2 Travel Related to Carin 18.3 Travel Related to Socia 18.4 Travel Related to Cons 18.5 Travel related to other a 59 No Activities 19 Others I5b What time did you perform? Or how much time did you spend on this activity? Enter the end time of the operation If the enumerator finds that the operation time is too long, it should ask again and respondent is sure to provide accurate information I5c [Ask only for Activity 4, 5, 9] Who you work with? (multiple choice) Alone Spouse Mother/Father Children Grandchildren Siblings Other members living in household Other relatives without living in household I5d (QUESTION FOR TRAVELLING ACTIVITY – I5a=18) How did you move? (If only one option is selected, if respondent moves by multiple means, select one main option) Cars, trucks (respondent driven) Motorcycles (respondent driven) Cars, trucks (respondent did not drive) Motorcycles (respondent did not drive) Walk Bicycles / Electric Bicycles I6 Was yesterday your typical day? If not, why? (If more than one reason, choose only one main reason.) Yes No, I participated a social event (wedding, funerals, etc.) 60 No, due to weather (rain, storm, etc.) No, due to illness No, because I just quitted my job No, because yesterday was a holiday (Christmas, Valentine ) No, because yesterday is holiday (weekend, vacation ) No, Others (specify): ….… I7 Please tell us how satisfied you are with the following? Your life 61 ANNEX – Interview questions Could you tell me about your experience in conducting projects/programmes related to gender equality promotion? It is said that Vietnam Government have had many efforts to promote gender equality, especially establishing legal framework What are they? How you think about the current legal framework? Does it work effectively? Why/Why not? How you think about gender distribution of doing housework in Vietnam? It is said that women feel satisfied with the current domestic work and care tasks distribution How you think about it? Why is the current legal framework ignore the issue of gender inequality in doing housework? What are recommendations to address to the current gender inequality? 62 ANNEX – T-test (DEPOCEN time-use data) Urban-Rural Female -Male Urban Rural Average 29.729* -36.232 -17.498 time for ** personal care (-3.33) (-2.97) (-1.340) Average 168.542 169.43 170.078 time for doing housewor k *** 6*** ** (13.13) (11.53) (9.66) - - Average * 53.140 53.269 * -47.254 * * time for ** * work activities (-3.15) (-2.39) (-1.80) Average - - - time for socializin g, relaxing 89.106* ** 78.99* ** 108.992 *** (-7.43) (-4.84) (-6.32) 3.574 0.108 3.008 (0.68) (0.015) (0.38) 1197 647 550 and leisure Average time for other activities Observat ions 63 64 .. .VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THU HA A STUDY FROM GENDER PERSPECTIVE ON ACTUAL CONDITION OF SHARING HOUSEWORK IN VIETNAM MAJOR: PUBLIC POLICY... for relaxing and socializing is depend on geographical location and income level On the other hand, the data demonstrates impact of marital status on increasing time male’s involvement in domestic... categories in female and male stata, by geography, marital status and income Marital status Urbanrural Average time for personal care Average time for doing housework Average time for work activities Average