Gender equality improving but caring role of women still an issue

Director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland Orla O'Connor said we need to stop seeing women as being the primary carers. Picture: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland

The gender equality gap between men and women is narrowing in Ireland but the reliance on women to assume caring roles and a lack of female representation at political level leave the nation lagging behind.

Ireland performed well in a Gender Equality Index published by the European Institute for Gender Equality last year.

The index, which looks at how countries are working to improve gender equality in work, money, health, knowledge, time, and power, ranked Ireland in seventh place in the EU With a score of 72, Ireland’s 2020 ranking was above the EU average.

It found that more women were working than before — 45% of women were working compared to 61% of men, an increase of 5% since 2010.

More women have been appointed to company boards also although there is still some way to go to reach parity — women represent 27% of board appointments compared to 73% men, an increase of 19% over the past decade.

It also revealed, however, that women are at greater risk of poverty (17%) than men (13%) and that this risk has risen since 2010.

Irish women also take on the lion’s share of care and domestic responsibilities.

Some 89% say they take on daily cooking and housekeeping duties — the highest recorded by women across the EU — and 44% say they care for children or relatives compared to 31% of men.

The National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) said a continued reliance on women to assume caring responsibilities and a lack of representation in politics were the two main “structural inequalities” that have yet to be addressed.

NCWI director Orla O’Connor said the Covid-19 pandemic “concentrated” the inequalities that remain, as many women juggle childcare, homeschooling, or caring for others, as well as work.

“That very unequal distribution of care within families, between women and men, was heightened during Covid,” she added.

“It requires cultural change. We need to stop seeing women as being the primary carers and it needs to be shared with men,” she added.

While more men need to “step up” and take on some of this caring responsibility, Ms O’Connor said deficits in public services, such as childcare and nursing home care, need to be addressed through greater public investment and supports.

For many women, the caring role that they play, whether for children or relatives, influences every other aspect of their life.

When women are choosing what jobs to go into, the care consideration is always at the top of their mind.

"The same goes with promotion; women are thinking how can they fit that job around the care responsibilities that they have at home,” Ms O’Connor said.

The NCWI is among several groups advocating a four-day week as well as more flexible working arrangements to support more women in the workplace and a better work-life balance.

The Covid-19 pandemic experience in Ireland also highlighted the need for more women in senior decision-making roles, Ms O’Connor said: “Every time we saw someone on the six o’clock news talking about Covid it was all men generally. The absence of women at senior level became much more apparent, so that is one of the lessons”.

She also acknowledged the role of New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern and other female heads of state in countries that managed Covid-19 well.

“When you look at the countries that fared better with Covid-19, many of them had women leaders and I think there is something to be learned from that”.