Filipino men have logged in more hours doing household work amid the pandemic but...

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Filipino men have logged more hours in a day doing household care work.

According to a National Household Care Survey, commissioned by Oxfam Philippines and other partner organizations, Filipino men have logged eight hours a day doing unpaid care tasks — three hours more compared to the 2017 edition of the survey.

While that's cool and admirable — go dads! — the survey also said that bulk of unpaid care tasks still fall on women, who spend up to 13 hours a day on unpaid care work, including supervision of dependents. That's five more hours than the current and improved hours logged in by men. 

The survey was conducted from January to March 2021 and involved 1,177 individuals from random households in Cagayan, Metro Manila, Masbate, Eastern Samar, Cebu, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.

In 2017, Oxfam polled 541 individuals from Cotabato, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Maguindanao, and Sultan Kudarat and found that women spent 12 hours a day on care work versus men's eight hours a day.

Resilience Portfolio Manager of Oxfam Philippines Leah Payud said, "While the coverage of the two surveys is not exactly the same, it was expected that
time spent on care work would increase for men, especially since many were forced to stay and even work at home."

Still, there was "inequality at home and that the bulk of unpaid care work still falls on women,” Payud continued.

According to the press release, more than half of the 13 hours spent  by women on care work involves multi-tasking or juggling two activities at the same time.

Filipino women on average spend 6.5 hours a day with care work as their primary activity including fetching water, doing laundry or taking care of sick family members. Men meanwhile spend an average of just 2.43 hours a day with care work as primary activity. That's women doing 3 hours more than men. 

Payud said she is hoping that "more men, especially those from the younger generations, would start to take on care work and challenge social norms."

Payud said there is also a need for institutional changes such as legislation or policies that support the care economy.

The survey was funded by Oxfam Philippines and rolled out in collaboration
with the Philippine Commission on Women, WeEEmpowerAsia, University of the
Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, Planet Cora, PATAMABA, SIMCARRD, COM and the Local Government Unit of Salcedo and Eastern Samar. — LA, GMA News