JINHA

ISTANBUL –The average adult women in Turkey dedicates 5 hours 17 minutes per day to unpaid housework, while the average adult man dedicates around 50 minutes, according to a report by the Women's Work and Employment Initiative (KEİG).

The survey conducted in Turkey in 2006 also showed that upon marriage, men take on 38% less unpaid domestic work while women take on 49% more unpaid domestic work. Men did not spend more than 6% of the time recorded doing tasks like ironing or washing clothes; what unpaid housework they did perform usually included repairs, paying bills and budget planning.

The report also called attention to the double burden for working women of also performing housework after their working day is over. Studies tracking women's employment rate may not account for this. TheKEİG study, by taking into account both paid and unpaid labor, showed that women work around 22% more than men on average and women between the ages of 25 and 34 generally work more than eight hours per day.

Women's unpaid labor takes place primarily in the home, where women produce and reproduce the value of the household residents. The report says this work, which constantly renews the labor force but is not viewed as valuable. The perception that women perform unpaid housework "for love" contributes to the invisibilization of women's work. Professions like cooking, seen as a profession for men, are seen as free labor for women.

(fk/cm)