Work Intensity
Encyclopedia
Work Intensity is defined as activity in relation to the capacity for that work. It is a topic that affects developed
and developing
countries in different ways. There are many aspects to work intensity including multitasking, time poverty, health implications, and policy considerations. Multitasking is the overlap of many activities, usually care
and informal work, that negatively impacts the livelihood of people, especially women, in the developing world. Time Poverty is defined as the lack of time for leisure and rest activities after time spent working. High work intensity coupled with multitasking and time poverty has a negative correlation with health outcomes. Work intensity is seldom considered when proposing new policy
and legislation
. As more women enter the workforce
, work intensity and its implications are being brought to the forefront of policy, development, and empowerment
debates.
.
While multitasking and its effects influence all socioeconomic classes, the lower, working classes tend to bear the burden of its distresses. Multitasking, more often than not, is used to mitigate the effects of low incomes. Families that cannot afford other means to take care of the daily ins and outs of running a household
rely on women to complete everyday chores
and care. In addition, families suffering from poverty
are more likely to have both parents work, compounding the amount of labor done by women. However, the alternative to multitasking can leave women and their families in deeper poverty.
Economists are beginning to take note of the importance of correctly quantifying multitasking by looking at the role of care and unpaid work. Care work
, done predominantly by women, is a main component of multitasking. Care work includes, but is not limited to, caring for children, the elderly, partners, and oneself. Unpaid work, while it includes care work, also includes activities such as cooking, cleaning, and fetching water. There is an enormous overlap between childcare and multitasking, leading to a never ending workday for many women. If employed, she returns from her job and is again put to work cooking
, cleaning, and caring for others in her household. Women complete over sixty percent of unpaid household work, which is almost never factored in to any productive measure and overlooked.
areas, women tend to work more hours than men although the time work gap varies by country. Additionally, there is a correlation between time and income poverty which further widens the time and income gap between men and women.
It is the combination of informal domestic work on top of market labor that puts women at a disadvantage. Unfortunately, the alternative to being time poor is even deeper consumption poverty. This grim alternative leaves women with no other choice than to be incessantly working, often on several projects at once (internal link to multitasking). Time poverty and multitasking are extremely interconnected in that women are so time impoverished that they must do many tasks simultaneously. In household units, women are more likely to make sacrifices for the rest of the family. In sacrificing their time for more work, women are less healthy, poorly rested, and have diminished capabilities.
The feminization of labor
can be seen as partly responsible for the time impoverishment of women in developing countries. Joining the formal labor market means that women have more work to do in addition to the informal care work already done within the home. As women are often paid lower wages than men, the feminization of labor contributes to income inequality and thus general gender inequality
This leaves women with few options: find gainful employment and thus increase bargaining power while at the same time becoming more time poor, or slide further into consumption poverty.
This lack of leisure time reduces the capabilities of women who are time poor. One of the ten essential human capabilities Martha Nussbaum lists in her 2004 article on women’s capabilities is play, which is the capability to enjoy life and all that it has to offer. Women who are time poor are severely deficient in the play capability. As development policy slowly transitions from an income-based approach to one that is capability-based, the reduction of capabilities in time impoverished women becomes increasingly important.
tasks (for example, meals are cooked, clothes are washed, children are cared for), however the way in which women workers spend their time can lead to a deterioration in health due to stress, chronic fatigue, and a lack of recreation and sleep. In addition, working long hours in agriculture and in factories can cause nutritional deficiencies and physical strain. Lower classes tend to bear the burden of the negative health implications associated with work intensity, and they are more likely to take undesirable jobs that cause said health problems. In addition, lower class women generally take on higher degrees of work intensity.
The capabilities approach emphasizes nutrition and health as fundamental freedoms, as do many other developmental goals and approaches freedom. Health and bodily integrity are essential human capabilities vital to living a full life. A lack of health, especially unnecessarily, can be seen as an infringement on human rights.
Work intensity coupled with rest has been proven beneficial in regards to health outcomes. Rest is a form of productive consumption. Productive consumption enables the satisfaction of current needs and simultaneously increases the productive potential of labor. Rest, improved nutrition, and education can help ease the problems associated with work intensity.
and is instead allocated to more work that can often be more strenuous than the initial task of water collecting. The two development projects listed above are common in developing countries, however neither takes time poverty nor multitasking into account. A potential solution to these two problems is to include improved nutritional programs when work intensity increases. This way, women aren’t forced to choose between more work and more food as the nutrition program will be improved as work intensity increases. Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen
lists adequate nutrition as an essential human freedom, and at the moment women are spending more time working that receiving sufficient nutrition and rest.
Another potential policy solution is to include rest into the workday as a form of productive consumption. Many economists want to tangibly see the reallocation of work after a certain labor-saving technology has been incorporated. However, individuals need time to recover and thus rest is as important as physical work.
A big issue facing policymakers is the inadequacy of the way gender equality and time use are currently measured. Two current methods to quantify gender equality are the Gender-related Development Index
(GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure
(GEM). Although each index takes different factors into account, neither addresses time poverty or work intensity. Better economic measures to quantify care and informal work are necessary for more effective policy implementation.
Developed country
A developed country is a country that has a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue...
and developing
Developing country
A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...
countries in different ways. There are many aspects to work intensity including multitasking, time poverty, health implications, and policy considerations. Multitasking is the overlap of many activities, usually care
Care work
Care work is a sub-category of work that includes all tasks that directly involve care processes done in service of others. Oftentimes, it is differentiated from other forms of work because it is intrinsically motivated, meaning that people are motivated to pursue care work for internal reasons,...
and informal work, that negatively impacts the livelihood of people, especially women, in the developing world. Time Poverty is defined as the lack of time for leisure and rest activities after time spent working. High work intensity coupled with multitasking and time poverty has a negative correlation with health outcomes. Work intensity is seldom considered when proposing new policy
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
and legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
. As more women enter the workforce
Workforce
The workforce is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, country, state, etc. The term generally excludes the employers or management, and implies those involved in...
, work intensity and its implications are being brought to the forefront of policy, development, and empowerment
Empowerment
Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, racial, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities...
debates.
Multitasking
Due to the nature of work intensity and multitasking, women tend to be more affected than men. Work intensity is amplified by multitasking as women put forth more effort per unit of time through the performance of two or more tasks simultaneously. Women assume productive, reproductive, and managing roles in their communities, thus the demand for their time is greater. Each role requires a different amount of intensity, and the magnitude of the amount of work that women in the developing world complete is often disregarded. Current time use data and research ignores the multiplicity of roles and duties performed by women in developing nations, thus, the extent in which women multitask is vastly underreported. This creates an unfair distribution of work between men and women as women chiefly deal with the functioning of the familial unitFamily
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
.
While multitasking and its effects influence all socioeconomic classes, the lower, working classes tend to bear the burden of its distresses. Multitasking, more often than not, is used to mitigate the effects of low incomes. Families that cannot afford other means to take care of the daily ins and outs of running a household
Household
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
rely on women to complete everyday chores
Housekeeping
Housekeeping is the act of cleaning the rooms and furnishings of a home. It is one of the many chores included in the term housework. Housecleaning includes activities such as disposing of rubbish, cleaning dirty surfaces, dusting and vacuuming. It may also involve some outdoor chores, such as...
and care. In addition, families suffering from poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
are more likely to have both parents work, compounding the amount of labor done by women. However, the alternative to multitasking can leave women and their families in deeper poverty.
Economists are beginning to take note of the importance of correctly quantifying multitasking by looking at the role of care and unpaid work. Care work
Care work
Care work is a sub-category of work that includes all tasks that directly involve care processes done in service of others. Oftentimes, it is differentiated from other forms of work because it is intrinsically motivated, meaning that people are motivated to pursue care work for internal reasons,...
, done predominantly by women, is a main component of multitasking. Care work includes, but is not limited to, caring for children, the elderly, partners, and oneself. Unpaid work, while it includes care work, also includes activities such as cooking, cleaning, and fetching water. There is an enormous overlap between childcare and multitasking, leading to a never ending workday for many women. If employed, she returns from her job and is again put to work cooking
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
, cleaning, and caring for others in her household. Women complete over sixty percent of unpaid household work, which is almost never factored in to any productive measure and overlooked.
Time Poverty
Time poverty is defined as the lack of time for leisure and rest activities after time spent working. As women often serve productive, reproductive, and managing roles in their communities they are more likely to be time poor than men as their time is spread out over many activities. Especially in ruralRural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
areas, women tend to work more hours than men although the time work gap varies by country. Additionally, there is a correlation between time and income poverty which further widens the time and income gap between men and women.
It is the combination of informal domestic work on top of market labor that puts women at a disadvantage. Unfortunately, the alternative to being time poor is even deeper consumption poverty. This grim alternative leaves women with no other choice than to be incessantly working, often on several projects at once (internal link to multitasking). Time poverty and multitasking are extremely interconnected in that women are so time impoverished that they must do many tasks simultaneously. In household units, women are more likely to make sacrifices for the rest of the family. In sacrificing their time for more work, women are less healthy, poorly rested, and have diminished capabilities.
The feminization of labor
Feminization of Labor
The feminization of labor is a term used to describe emerging gendered labor relations born out of the rise of global capitalism. For instance, manufacturing jobs are now considered women's work.-Globalization and female labor:...
can be seen as partly responsible for the time impoverishment of women in developing countries. Joining the formal labor market means that women have more work to do in addition to the informal care work already done within the home. As women are often paid lower wages than men, the feminization of labor contributes to income inequality and thus general gender inequality
Gender inequality
Gender inequality refers to disparity between individuals due to gender. Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; binary gender...
This leaves women with few options: find gainful employment and thus increase bargaining power while at the same time becoming more time poor, or slide further into consumption poverty.
This lack of leisure time reduces the capabilities of women who are time poor. One of the ten essential human capabilities Martha Nussbaum lists in her 2004 article on women’s capabilities is play, which is the capability to enjoy life and all that it has to offer. Women who are time poor are severely deficient in the play capability. As development policy slowly transitions from an income-based approach to one that is capability-based, the reduction of capabilities in time impoverished women becomes increasingly important.
Health Implications
Because of the time and workload associated with work intensity, there is a negative correlation between work intensity and health. While these health patterns occur in the developing and developed worlds, they manifest differently. An increase in work hours and multitasking may lead to higher monetary income and completed householdHousehold
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
tasks (for example, meals are cooked, clothes are washed, children are cared for), however the way in which women workers spend their time can lead to a deterioration in health due to stress, chronic fatigue, and a lack of recreation and sleep. In addition, working long hours in agriculture and in factories can cause nutritional deficiencies and physical strain. Lower classes tend to bear the burden of the negative health implications associated with work intensity, and they are more likely to take undesirable jobs that cause said health problems. In addition, lower class women generally take on higher degrees of work intensity.
The capabilities approach emphasizes nutrition and health as fundamental freedoms, as do many other developmental goals and approaches freedom. Health and bodily integrity are essential human capabilities vital to living a full life. A lack of health, especially unnecessarily, can be seen as an infringement on human rights.
Work intensity coupled with rest has been proven beneficial in regards to health outcomes. Rest is a form of productive consumption. Productive consumption enables the satisfaction of current needs and simultaneously increases the productive potential of labor. Rest, improved nutrition, and education can help ease the problems associated with work intensity.
Policy Considerations
Of the poverty eradication policies currently in place, very few of them incorporate work intensity into their reduction strategies and can often actually worsen conditions for citizens of developing countries. A common development strategy is to increase the size of a plot of land used for agriculture. While this increases a family’s output, it also increases the amount of work women have to do. Another example would be moving a water source closer to a village. While women spend less time collecting water, their free time is rarely allocated to leisureLeisure
Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....
and is instead allocated to more work that can often be more strenuous than the initial task of water collecting. The two development projects listed above are common in developing countries, however neither takes time poverty nor multitasking into account. A potential solution to these two problems is to include improved nutritional programs when work intensity increases. This way, women aren’t forced to choose between more work and more food as the nutrition program will be improved as work intensity increases. Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...
lists adequate nutrition as an essential human freedom, and at the moment women are spending more time working that receiving sufficient nutrition and rest.
Another potential policy solution is to include rest into the workday as a form of productive consumption. Many economists want to tangibly see the reallocation of work after a certain labor-saving technology has been incorporated. However, individuals need time to recover and thus rest is as important as physical work.
A big issue facing policymakers is the inadequacy of the way gender equality and time use are currently measured. Two current methods to quantify gender equality are the Gender-related Development Index
Gender-related Development Index
The Gender-related Development Index and the Gender Empowerment Measure were introduced in 1995 in the Human Development Report written by the United Nations Development Program. The aim of these measurements was to add a gender-sensitive dimension to the HDI. The first measurement that they...
(GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure
Gender Empowerment Measure
The United Nation's Development Programme's attempt to measure the extent of gender equality across the globe's countries, based on estimates of women's relative economic income, high-paying positions, and access to professional and parliamentary positions....
(GEM). Although each index takes different factors into account, neither addresses time poverty or work intensity. Better economic measures to quantify care and informal work are necessary for more effective policy implementation.