Care work requires specific skills and emotional affection to ensure the well-being of individuals and communities. It involves a diverse range of activities, including childcare, elder care, and household management. Whether paid or unpaid, care work is integral to individual and societal well-being.
Traditional gender norms often designate men as breadwinners and women as household caregivers. The Indonesian Marriage Law reinforces gender stereotypes, portraying men as primary breadwinners in the workforce and women as domestic caregivers. These privilege men not to carry out care work (see also Investing in Women, Lembaga Demografi, and Prospera, 2021), and lead to the perception that men who engage in care work are less masculine (Buschmeyer and Lengersdorf, 2016). Meanwhile, women’s participation in economic activities is often perceived as neglecting their familial responsibilities (Setyonaluri and Utomo, 2023). These societal norms impede the equitable distribution of unpaid care work within households, ultimately limiting women’s labor force participation.
On the other hand, the working conditions of care workers in Indonesia, particularly domestic workers who are mostly women, remain far from decent (Dhewy, 2017; Ruwaida, 2017). For 20 years, the Ratification of Domestic Workers Protection Bill has been halted, leaving domestic workers without a clear legal standing or sufficient legal protection. Their rights remain precarious. Furthermore, the Indonesia Care Economy Roadmap 2025–2045 has limited discussions on care workers.
To ensure the well-being of both care recipients and providers, discussions on the care economy in Indonesia should adopt the ILO’s 5Rs framework:
- recognize or acknowledge caregiving and nurturing work as activities with productive value
- reduce or decrease the burden of women’s care work by involving male in care work
- redistribute or share the burden of care work among family members or provide accessible and affordable public facility options
- reward or properly compensate and acknowledge caregivers for their work
- represent or ensure the representation of women and care workers in discussions and decision-making processes related to care work and the care economy
We need to change traditional views on gender roles in care work so that men can share the responsibility of unpaid domestic care work. Therefore, women can be more actively involved in the labor market and public life, and alleviate the double burden that has historically constrained their advancement (Ferrant et al., 2014; Jayachandran, 2021).
It is imperative that the government takes swift action to safeguard the rights of female care workers. The passage of the Domestic Workers Bill is of utmost importance. Additionally, comprehensive care work policies must be incorporated into the national development plan.
With support from the Penabulu Foundation, SMERU has partnered with JALA PRT and Kalyanamitra to conduct a series of studies and advocacy activities aimed at identifying policy gaps in the care work sector and developing effective advocacy strategies to promote the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill.
This research is centered on two key areas:
- Social norms surrounding the care economy (unpaid care work)
- Protection and promotion of the rights and needs of female care workers, with a particular focus on domestic workers (paid carework)
This research aims to:
- Analyze societal norms surrounding the care economy
- Generate evidence that can be used to advocate for policies and practices that support women’s rights and needs paid care work, both within Indonesia and globally
This project is expected to produce diverse practical and theoretical knowledge to support advocacy actors in promoting the passage of Domestic Workers Bill. Each study will produce comprehensive reports and infographic to improve public research literacy. Especially with our fellow consortium, we will host a collaborative training to strengthen members' feminist research methodologies.
This study employs both quantitative and qualitative methods. The unpaid care work study utilizes secondary data analysis and a household survey for its quantitative component, while a life history approach is used for the qualitative component. The paid care work component uses policy mapping to analyze relevant policies and draws on the experiences of domestic workers.
A. Unpaid Care Work
- Secondary Data Analysis
This stage analyzes trends in social norms regarding women’s labor market participation and leadership positions, utilizing nationally representative data from the World Value Survey (WVS) in Indonesia. - Household Survey on Social Norms
This survey explores two key areas:- Societal norms regarding men’s participation in unpaid care work
- Men’s actual involvement in unpaid care work. Both men and women will be surveyed.
- Life-History Interviews
This stage identifies champions among duty-bearers at both the national and local levels who advocate for women’s participation in public life and men’s greater involvement in unpaid care work. Furthermore, the study will assess the enabling conditions that facilitate these champions’ influence on their communities.
B. Paid Care Work
- Policy Mapping and Analysis
This study starts with the mapping and analysis of existing care work policies (across ministries and other stakeholders) in Indonesia. The study will analyse the policies using the feminist policy analytical framework to see whether the policies have reinforced gender equalities or gender roles. - Practice and Experience of Domestic Workers
The study collects primary data on local government initiatives to protect domestic workers and on the practices of employing domestic workers.
