Let’s do it together: Staying at home and sharing responsibilities

The COVID-19 has lead to millions of people now spending all the time inside their homes. With all members of the family staying inside, the burden of household work has multiplied, and it is women are the ones who are shouldering this burden. In cases where there are children in the house, it is the woman alone who have to juggle between the chores and caring for the children. It is even worse for mothers who are working from their homes.

The patriarchal mindset in our culture excludes men from participating in household work, and the current situation can be used as an advantage to change this mindset. Inspiring men to share the household work will ensure equality at home. This will ensure a healthy environment at home where everybody is responsible for their own work, and everybody is ready to offer a helping hand to another. This practice will eliminate negative gender stereotypes and behaviours from the house and teach children to take this practice forward in the future generations. 

This crisis has made even more visible the gender inequalities existing at homes. In order to ensure gender equality within the household, the UN (United Nations) has launched the #heforsheathome campaign. This campaign encourages men to participate in household work with their mothers, wives, daughters and sisters. 

Many people are using this time as an opportunity to learn new skills and explore new talents. This can be the perfect opportunity for many men to learn that new dish, or any other skill that involves completing house work. This time should be used to have fun with your children. Use a timer to calculate which child has washed the most number of dishes at a given time (example 15 minutes), and reward the child. This will encourage positive behaviour within children regarding everyday tasks, and they will believe that they have a responsibility towards their own chores regardless of gender. 

More information:

• https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/4/news-heforshe-launches-heforsheathome-campaign
• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/16/womens-coronavirus-domestic-burden