OIT - Volunteering, unpaid care work and gender in lower-income countries

VOLUNTEERING, UNPAID

CARE WORK AND GENDER IN

LOWER-INCOME COUNTRIES

Anna Barford, Kate Brockie and Niall O’HigginsVOLUNTEERING, UNPAID

CARE WORK AND GENDER IN

LOWER-INCOME COUNTRIES

Anna Barford, Kate Brockie and Niall O’Higgins December 20244 © United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and International Labour Organization (ILO) First published 2024

ISBN: 9789220416945 (web PDF) DOI: https://doi.org/10.54394/QKYG5859

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its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The opinions and views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views or policies of UNV or the ILO. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the ILO or UNV, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval.Volunteering, unpaid care work and gender in lower-income countries 5

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements 6 List of figures 7 List of tables 8 List of boxes 8 Abbreviations and acronyms 9 Key points 10

1. Introduction 12 1.1 What are unpaid care and volunteering? 13 1.2 Focus and structure of report

18

2. Unpacking unpaid care and volunteering 20 2.1 Global trends of unpaid care work and volunteering 20 2.2 Societal value: meeting societal needs 26 2.3 Intrinsic value: personal identity and skills 31 2.4 Economic value: income and employment 33 2.5 Limits to value

36 2.6 Summary 39

3. A case study of unpaid care and volunteer work in Bangladesh 41 3.1 Case study data and context: Bangladesh 41 3.2 Analysis of volunteering and care work in Bangladesh using the LFS 42 3.3 Time-use analysis of volunteer and care work in Bangladesh

49 3.4 Summary 54

4. Conclusion: Towards volunteer programmes that better support the school-to-work transition

56 References 59

Appendix A: Methods

66

Appendix B: Descriptive statistics of volunteering and unpaid household care work in Bangladesh

67

Appendix C: Probit models of the probability of being a volunteer

69

Appendix D: Linear regression models of time spent volunteering by volunteers (hours)

71

Appendix E: Probit models of the probability of volunteers carrying out any voluntary care work

736

67

Appendix C: Probit models of the probability of being a volunteer

69

Appendix D: Linear regression models of time spent volunteering by volunteers (hours)

71

Appendix E: Probit models of the probability of volunteers carrying out any voluntary care work

736 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper is a contribution to the UNV-ILO partnership for the measurement of volunteer work, which also provided funding for the research. We wish to warmly thank Vera Chrobok, Juan Pablo Gordillo, Paula Germana, Tapiwa Kamuruko and Emiliya Asadova from UNV, Vladimir Ganta from the ILO and Matt Baillie Smith from the University of Northumbria, for their useful and constructive comments and to Valeria Esquivel from the ILO for helpful discussions on definitional issues related to (unpaid) care work. We also wish to thank the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics for its cooperation and support in accessing the time-use survey microdata.Volunteering, unpaid care work and gender in lower-income countries 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Differences and overlaps between unpaid care work, volunteer work and other unpaid work 14 Figure 2. Volunteer work, care work and their relation to resolution I of the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), ICATUS 2016 and the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA) production boundary 15 Figure 3. Time (hours per day) spent in unpaid care work population aged 15 and over, latest year 21 Figure 4. Gender ratio of unpaid care work (female-to-male), by country income group, population 15 years old and up, latest year 23 Figure 5. Volunteer rate by sex, four-week reference period, by country income group, latest year 25 Figure 6. Gender ratio of volunteer rates (female-to-male), by country income group 26 Figure 7. The care diamond 27 Figure 8. Volunteer rate of women and men in Bangladesh by age group 43 Figure 9. Volunteer rate of women and men in Bangladesh by education level 43

26 Figure 7. The care diamond 27 Figure 8. Volunteer rate of women and men in Bangladesh by age group 43 Figure 9. Volunteer rate of women and men in Bangladesh by education level 43 Figure 10. Mode of volunteer work, percentage of volunteers by sex 45 Figure 11. Type of volunteer work, estimates of population participation by sex (thousands) 45 Figure 12. Type of volunteer work participation as a percentage of total volunteering, by sex 46 Figure 13. Minutes per day spent by volunteers in different types of voluntary activities, by sex 51 Figure 14. Average time spent across unpaid volunteering activities by volunteers (minutes) 52 Figure 15. Time-use of female and male volunteers (minutes) 53 Figure 16. Gendered patterns of unpaid care and volunteer work 568 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Examples of unpaid care work and volunteering 18 Table 2. Summary statistics of average hours of unpaid care work by country income groups and sex 22 Table 3. Benefits of volunteering 32 Table 4. Inequalities in volunteering among refugees living in Uganda 37 Table 5. ICATUS major division 5, three-digit codes 50 Table 6. Volunteering tasks overlapping with care work 52

LIST OF BOXES

Box 1. What is volunteer work? 16 Box 2. Measuring unpaid care work 20 Box 3. Measuring volunteering 24 Box 4. Volunteer work in East Africa 28 Box 5. Volunteer work in Indonesia 29 Box 6. The contribution of female community health volunteers in Nepal 30 Box 7. Volunteer work in conflicts and emergencies 30 Box 8. Volunteerism in Sri Lanka 31 Box 9. Men, expectations and volunteer incomes among refugees living in Uganda 34 Box 10. Treading a fine line with volunteer work, Syrian refugees in Jordan 34

Volunteer work in conflicts and emergencies 30 Box 8. Volunteerism in Sri Lanka 31 Box 9. Men, expectations and volunteer incomes among refugees living in Uganda 34 Box 10. Treading a fine line with volunteer work, Syrian refugees in Jordan 34 Box 11. Undervalued female leadership of community care in Argentina 35 Box 12. Volunteering as a route to longer-term employment 36 Box 13. Care in lower-income countries 37 Box 14. Gendered volunteer roles in climate change adaptation programmes 38Volunteering, unpaid care work and gender in lower-income countries 9 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ICATUS International Classification of Activities for Time-Use Statistics ICLS International Conference of Labour Statisticians ILO International Labour Office/Organization (according to context) ISCED International Standard Classification of Education LFS labour force survey NEET not in education employment or training NGO non-governmental organization SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SNA System of National Accounts TUS time-use survey UN United Nations UNECE Economic Commission for Europe UNSD United Nations Statistics Division UNV United Nations Volunteers10 KEY POINTS There is a conceptual overlap between voluntary work and unpaid care work, as some voluntary work provides care work outside of the household. Many other volunteering activities do not count as care work, and unpaid care work for one’s own household is not classified as volunteering. To some extent, the nature of and demand for care and volunteering are shifting, partly due to technological developments, climate change and demographic change. Yet key concerns remain, including that there is a risk that volunteer and unpaid care work are underappreciated and unrecognized despite performing crucial functions for society and the economy. Lower-income countries have received relatively little coverage in the research literature and statistics on unpaid care work and volunteer work. Existing data suggest that,

risk that volunteer and unpaid care work are underappreciated and unrecognized despite performing crucial functions for society and the economy. Lower-income countries have received relatively little coverage in the research literature and statistics on unpaid care work and volunteer work. Existing data suggest that, in lower-income countries, women shoulder much greater unpaid care workloads than their male counterparts while men participate in volunteering at higher rates. In this report, a case study of Bangladesh addresses the relative lack of evidence on volunteering in lower-income countries, employing labour force survey (LFS) and time-use survey (TUS) data to explore volunteer work and unpaid care work. Time spent doing voluntary and unpaid care work relates to one another, often in distinctly gendered ways. Both voluntary work outside the household and unpaid care work within the household provide valuable contributions to individuals and communities, helping to maintain the preconditions of social and economic life. There are gendered patterns to the distribution of care work and volunteer work. Globally, care work both in the home and outside of the home is predominantly undertaken by women. Volunteering comprises a diverse range of activities and there are gendered patterns regarding who performs which type of role. Volunteer roles involving care tend to be done by women; the analysis presented in this study estimates that in Bangladesh, female volunteers spend 80.4 per cent of their volunteering time on care work activities compared to 40.6 per cent of male volunteers’ time. This gendered pattern may stem, at least in part, from the ways in which specific programmes mobilize volunteer labour. Motivations for engaging in volunteer work include meeting social needs, volunteers’ personal identity, skills development, incomegeneration and improving employment prospects. Some volunteers receive stipends that represent a significant contribution to their income. While volunteering and care evoke ideas of altruism and concern for others, they may also stem from a sense of

personal identity, skills development, incomegeneration and improving employment prospects. Some volunteers receive stipends that represent a significant contribution to their income. While volunteering and care evoke ideas of altruism and concern for others, they may also stem from a sense of social obligation and personal aspirations. Despite its crucial role in societies and economies, care work in one’s home is still not typically associated with improvements to employability and income.Volunteering, unpaid care work and gender in lower-income countries 11 Direct (or informal) volunteering, which is not done through a formal organization or programme, is particularly overlooked in the literature. Its informal nature means that it tends not to offer benefits such as a stipend, skills development, certification or a boost to future employability but can play a vital and meaningful role for volunteers and their communities. More research is needed to understand this type of volunteering, its contribution, the experience volunteers gain and their longer-term effects. Substantial progress in recent years has been made towards capturing statistics on unpaid household care work; the International Labour Organization (ILO)-United Nations Volunteers (UNV) partnership on the measurement of volunteer work has made important contributions to statistical measurement of volunteer work. However, unpaid care work provided as volunteer work outside the household is often omitted from statistics on care work. As of 2024, the ILO is preparing a framework for the measurement of care work to address data gaps and promote international comparability of future data. This definition should explicitly incorporate unpaid care work carried out for those outside the household or family through volunteer work. Some forms of volunteer work are associated more closely with “getting on” (accessing aspirational opportunities), whereas other forms are primarily related to “getting by” (systems of reciprocal support). In Bangladesh, female volunteers are predominantly involved in direct informal volunteering that provides care services to those outside the household or family, and which is more closely associated

aspirational opportunities), whereas other forms are primarily related to “getting by” (systems of reciprocal support). In Bangladesh, female volunteers are predominantly involved in direct informal volunteering that provides care services to those outside the household or family, and which is more closely associated with reciprocal support. By contrast, male volunteers are more often engaged in communityand organization-based volunteering, which is nearer to “aspirational” volunteering. These gendered characteristics of volunteering in Bangladesh reflect existing divisions of labour between the productive and reproductive spheres, with implications for how this volunteer work is recognized and valued within societies and labour markets. Looking ahead, attention should be paid to the conditions in which unpaid care work provided by volunteers takes place. This will help to ensure adequate resources, fair recognition and appropriate support. Further, the gendered distribution of voluntary care work translates into differential labour market and income opportunities for women and men. This can be addressed by policies that promote skills recognition, appreciate the value of this work in its diverse forms, and ensure equitable access to volunteer opportunities. The value of volunteering and care work can be constrained by the conditions under which it is provided, for example if volunteers lack the equipment or support they need. Sometimes the expectations put on unpaid carers and volunteers are excessive. This can result in care deficits, for example in the wake of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, chronic disability and demographic shifts have disproportionately placed care responsibilities on (often older) female family members and female volunteers due to rigid gender roles.12

1. INTRODUCTION Unpaid care and volunteering are valuable to society and the economy, as both contribute to societal wellbeing and economic development. Unpaid reproductive labour in the home prepares families for work and study. In 2011 unpaid care represented US$11 trillion in purchasing power parity (ILO 2018). Meanwhile volunteers support diverse social, health and environmental initiatives. Both unpaid care and volunteering

being and economic development. Unpaid reproductive labour in the home prepares families for work and study. In 2011 unpaid care represented US$11 trillion in purchasing power parity (ILO 2018). Meanwhile volunteers support diverse social, health and environmental initiatives. Both unpaid care and volunteering can be seen as important civic activities (Herd and Meyer, 2002; Evers and von Essen 2019). At the same time, both volunteering and unpaid care have both been described as forms of work that are sometimes invisible (Daniels 1987; Ward 2022). This is in part due to prevalent “folk understandings” that work is something you are paid to do. Such understandings can mistakenly undervalue what is often seen as “women’s work” while positing paid work as a moral contribution to society (Daniels 1987). This work can be made invisible by cultural values, a lack of legal definition of this work as “employment” (because volunteering is a form of work but is not employment), and the spatial segregation of this work (Hatton 2017). This work is, nevertheless, highly visible to those who do it. As forms of work, unpaid care and volunteering can be highly gendered. Worldwide, women do 76.2 per cent of all unpaid care work (ILO 2018, p. 43). For some 606 million women and 41 million men, performing unpaid care work meant that they were unavailable for employment (ILO 2018, p. 83). Gender divides in volunteering, while historically and geographically specific, often involve female volunteers doing more voluntary care work than their male counterparts. Volunteering is a prominent part of development agendas (Brown and Prince 2015). As Baillie Smith et al. (2021) noted, “Volunteering has gained growing geopolitical significance, with volunteers identified as one of a number of new development actors, located within global diplomacy and identified as critical to the achievement of key strategic development policies and objectives.” International attention to voluntary work includes several United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions on volunteering, all of the

one of a number of new development actors, located within global diplomacy and identified as critical to the achievement of key strategic development policies and objectives.” International attention to voluntary work includes several United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions on volunteering, all of the State of the World’s Volunteerism Reports published to date by United Nations Volunteers (UNV) (UNV 2011, 2015, 2018, 2021), as well as the celebration of the International Year of Volunteers (2001) and its ten-year anniversary (2011). Most recently, the UNGA proclaimed 2026 as the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development. Volunteering is seen as a crucial component of the actions required to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UNV 2021). Care has been largely overlooked by policymakers (Chopra and Sweetman 2014), but attention to care has started to build. New political commitments include “Our Common Agenda” by the United Nations Secretary-General, which calls for a reconsideration of the care economy, and the initiation in October 2023 of an “International Day of Care and Support”. In June 2024, “decent work and the care economy” was the subject of a general discussion at the 112th International Labour Conference (ILO 2024). Care is fundamental to achieving the SDGs, and unpaid care is the subject of SDG Target 5.4, to “recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work”. Both unpaid care and volunteer work can bring benefits. These include benefits to the individuals performing this work, and to households, families, communities and society more widely. Depending upon the specifics of volunteering, the structures of services, social protection and skills recognition for those doing unpaid care work, these activities have consequences for people’s current and future working lives (ILO 2024a; Halim et al. 2022; Győrvári-Tumpek and Kenderfi 2022; O’Higgins 2022). The work presented here stems from a broader partnership between UNV and the ILO, which has the

(ILO 2024a; Halim et al. 2022; Győrvári-Tumpek and Kenderfi 2022; O’Higgins 2022). The work presented here stems from a broader partnership between UNV and the ILO, which has the aim of advancing the measurement of volunteer work; it is primarily written for policymakers, statisticians,Volunteering, unpaid care work and gender in lower-income countries 13 researchers and practitioners. In what follows, we review and analyse the gendered patterns of volunteering and unpaid care work in lower-income countries by combining a literature review with a statistical analysis of Bangladesh. This is in part a response to the “very limited gendered analyses of volunteering, especially in the global South” (Cadesky et al. 2019, no page), as well as a recognition of the interactions and similarities between volunteering and unpaid care work. Unpaid care work influences people’s availability to engage in voluntary work, and vice versa, while gender norms play a role in shaping people’s engagement in both voluntary work and unpaid care work. The report concludes by calling for a series of actions to better recognize, understand and enable those involved in volunteer and unpaid care work. These include the need to expand national statistical offices’ measurements of unpaid care (both within and beyond the household/family); to conduct further qualitative research that could improve understandings of the diverse and often culturally-specific meanings and experiences of volunteering and unpaid care; and to improve policies and boost the efforts of practitioners to both disrupt strongly gendered patterns of volunteering and care work and to interrupt gender inequalities in the world of work that stem from them. 1.1 What are unpaid care and volunteering? Unpaid care work and volunteering are both forms of work that in principle take place without financial remuneration.1 For some, these activities occur alongside other forms of work, such as a paid job. For others, these activities are their main work activities, perhaps as a “job” in itself, as a route into paid employment, as an alternative activity that may increase where labour market demand is low, or to meet the care needs

these activities are their main work activities, perhaps as a “job” in itself, as a route into paid employment, as an alternative activity that may increase where labour market demand is low, or to meet the care needs of others including when state services are weak or non-existent or care demand is especially high (e.g. Fadel et al. 2024; Barford et al. 2021a; Barford and Gray 2022). Unpaid care and volunteer work overlap conceptually: “Since it is unpaid, volunteer work is indeed work, but it is not employment. Similarly, but distinctly, unpaid care activities are work — but not employment. There is an overlap here, in that unpaid care work undertaken in the context of the family and/or household is not volunteer work, but unpaid care work undertaken outside the family is.” (O’Higgins 2022, p.7)

1 Volunteering often does involve some form of remuneration, normally justified in order to cover the costs incurred by volunteers. In some contexts, especially where alternative job opportunities are limited, this can make volunteering attractive due to the income it generates. For example, Fadel et al. (2024) find that in Uganda one-third of the sample of refugee youth volunteers cited “getting money” as one of their motivations for volunteering.14 Unpaid care work beyond one’s own household or family is a form of volunteering. When unpaid care work is provided to one’s own household or family, however, it is not categorized as volunteering (figure 1). Indeed, with an emphasis on unpaid domestic and care work undertaken as a contribution to “own use” household production, the term “unpaid domestic and care work” has come to be synonymous with “unpaid domestic services provided for household or family members,” (our emphasis, UN 2021). Paid care work outside of the household is a separate category that, because it is paid, is not volunteer work (for instance, paid nurses, paid teachers and paid domestic workers). Unpaid care work undertaken outside the family is a further separate category termed “volunteer care work” and considered largely akin to paid

work outside of the household is a separate category that, because it is paid, is not volunteer work (for instance, paid nurses, paid teachers and paid domestic workers). Unpaid care work undertaken outside the family is a further separate category termed “volunteer care work” and considered largely akin to paid care work, distinguished only by the fact that it is unpaid (ILO 2018, chapter one). Indeed, the International Classification of Activities for Time-Use Statistics (ICATUS) 2016 identifies “unpaid caregiving services for household and family members” as major division 4 (UN 2021, p.11), whereas volunteer care work is not separately identified (figure 2).2 2 It is, of course, separately identifiable from the survey questions, as the approach adopted below in the Bangladesh case study shows.

FIGURE 1.

Differences and overlaps between unpaid care work, volunteer work and other unpaid work Unpaid care work Such as cooking, cleaning, personal care and childcare Volunteer work Such as litter picking, running community events Volunteer care work Such as community health work, nursing, teaching, cooking, cleaning, and childcare For one’s household or family Beyond one’s household or family Other unpaid work Unpaid work that is neither care nor volunteering. E.g. subsistence agriculture or unpaid training Note: Other forms of unpaid work exist which are neither care nor volunteer work.Volunteering, unpaid care work and gender in lower-income countries 15 The extent to which a distinction between the nature of care work engaged in for the benefit of family and non-family can usefully be drawn in practice, especially when one is talking of direct – as opposed to organization-based – volunteering is an empirical question worthy of further investigation. This is beyond the scope of the current paper.3 As we shall see, however, volunteer care work, like “unpaid domestic and

and non-family can usefully be drawn in practice, especially when one is talking of direct – as opposed to organization-based – volunteering is an empirical question worthy of further investigation. This is beyond the scope of the current paper.3 As we shall see, however, volunteer care work, like “unpaid domestic and care work” (for family members) and, indeed, paid care work, is strongly gendered. Much of what follows focuses precisely on the interactions and intersection between unpaid care work and volunteer work – or volunteer care work as it is termed in figures 1 and 2. For both volunteer work and own-use production work (which includes unpaid care in one’s own home), the production of goods falls within the 2008 System of National Accounts production boundary, whereas services fall outside of this but are counted within the general production boundary (ILO 2023b). This means the following activities are excluded from gross domestic product (GDP) calculations: “(i) preparation of meals, laundry, cleaning and shopping; (ii) care of children, the elderly, the sick and persons with disabilities within the household; and (iii) volunteer services provided through organizations and groups” (Razavi 2007). 3 For one thing, as discussed below, the boundaries of the family, in terms of perceived caring responsibilities may not coincide with the household as defined in surveys. Moreover, responsibilities felt by community members one to another may, indeed, transcend those of the family, and so the distinction may become further blu