The Future for Men and Women in the 21st Century
Pru Goward gave a talk last night on gender equality, economic growth and social / demographic sustainability. As well as being a good public speaker Pru talked about a lot of things that cross my mind on an irregular basis.
70% of unpaid child caring and housework is done by women.
90% of unpaid caring for elderly parents is done by women.
This is fine if you have someone to look after you and someone who will pay for your old age. But it is not fine if you lose the opportunity to participate economically due to lack of experience / training / time what with having 'family' commitments and then get to be one of the large amount of elderly women living in poverty. By the way women are 2.5 times more likely to be old and impoverished than men.
Factor in the baby boomer generation who are likely to have 2-4 siblings to help them look after their parents compared to the current generation of 20-30 yrs who are more likely to have one sibling and you have a significant amount of people who are going to be 'caring' even if they don't choose to have children.
Factor in the large amount of baby boomers who will no doubt drop out of the workforce then experience increasing need for health care as they age slowly because we live longer now.
Pru said she thought in order for the economy to continue to function, and for commitments like children, home life and parents to be met there would have to be changes in how those commitments were addressed and valued. For example; women need to indicate to men that significantly contributing to 'caring' type tasks is desirable and attractive.
Men who have time to cook, clean, babysit and care are going to be very popular in this model.
I plan to date school teachers, University professors and TAFE lecturers exclusively from now on :P
70% of unpaid child caring and housework is done by women.
90% of unpaid caring for elderly parents is done by women.
This is fine if you have someone to look after you and someone who will pay for your old age. But it is not fine if you lose the opportunity to participate economically due to lack of experience / training / time what with having 'family' commitments and then get to be one of the large amount of elderly women living in poverty. By the way women are 2.5 times more likely to be old and impoverished than men.
Factor in the baby boomer generation who are likely to have 2-4 siblings to help them look after their parents compared to the current generation of 20-30 yrs who are more likely to have one sibling and you have a significant amount of people who are going to be 'caring' even if they don't choose to have children.
Factor in the large amount of baby boomers who will no doubt drop out of the workforce then experience increasing need for health care as they age slowly because we live longer now.
Pru said she thought in order for the economy to continue to function, and for commitments like children, home life and parents to be met there would have to be changes in how those commitments were addressed and valued. For example; women need to indicate to men that significantly contributing to 'caring' type tasks is desirable and attractive.
Men who have time to cook, clean, babysit and care are going to be very popular in this model.
I plan to date school teachers, University professors and TAFE lecturers exclusively from now on :P