Happiness may be free but is work supposed to be free?

At every stop on social media this week , I’ve been met with those colorful ads from different brands announcing discounts on variety of goods and services. Brands in clothing , wining and dining services, cosmetics, beauty products and makeovers and vacations among others are competing for attention on different platforms.

Why the promos and all the buzz? Because it’s Mother’s Day!

Everyone wants mothers to indulge or be gifted by their friends and family for ‘the great jobs and sacrifice’ they make to sustain their families.

But wait a minute: are these gifts and gestures enough to make a mother truly happy? How many mothers have the privilege to celebrate the day or be celebrated on this day? And is motherhood and all work that comes with it something that brings happiness to most women?

A popular quote is often shared that: life does not come with a manual, it comes with a mother! A mother is a doctor, teacher, fixer, cook, strategist, defender, disciplinarian, the list is endless. She didn’t also get the manual nor a memo, but she just has to do it and do it well.

Household labor, ranging from cooking and cleaning, fetching water and firewood or taking care of children and the elderly falls heavily on women. Studies have shown that, women carry out at least two and a half times more unpaid household and care work than men.

Women’s unpaid work subsidizes the cost of care that sustains families, supports economies and often fills in for the lack of social services. Yet, it is rarely recognized as “work “.

Unpaid care and domestic work is valued to be between 10 and 39% of GDP and can contribute more to the economy than the manufacturing,

commerce or transportation sectors. But unpaid labor rarely receives any recognition.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) found that, if care work was valued the same as other work, it would represent a tenth of the world’s economic output.

Covid-19 pandemic and increasing effects of climate change has further increased time spent by both men and women on care work, but the increase of this work has been far greater for women.

Spending more time on unpaid care means having less time for paid labor, political participation, self-care, rest and leisure. In most communities, girls become assistant mothers in their families where most end up missing school hours or dropping out completely to support their mothers. These girls not only miss out on their education and have their future jeopardized, but they miss out on their entire childhood including play and leisure time.

Women’s rights advocates around the world are pushing for the recognition of unpaid care and domestic work. They want to raise visibility on the issue and provide the time and resources for men and women to share household tasks.

Other ways that could make a difference include: counting unpaid care work in statistics, acknowledging its place in the economy, compensating women for their contributions, and considering unpaid care work when making policy decisions.

Governments across the world have implemented social welfare policies where certain sections of the population are supported through cash transfers, food stamps, free health insurance and other ways to ease their burdens.

In Kenya, for example, these cash transfers are targeted on the elderly (70 years and above) and people living with disabilities. It would be prudent if mothers and other caregivers (who largely are women) are considered for such support. Their care work needs to be counted into official statistics and compensated through the social support system. Realistically, these mothers are the ones taking care of the elderly, the sick, children and family members living with disabilities. More deserving cases would actually be reached if the caregivers were given recognition. The standards of care in communities would also become better if the caregivers' lives were also taken care of, their skills built and recognized officially.

As a mother (myself) and one bringing up my son alone, this day doesn’t sound like a happy one for me. Even with the luring to buy myself or someone else a gift or to go on vacation, it still doesn’t make sense. I have to work, pay bills, support my son to study, be there for him morally and for psychological support, do domestic chores and more. Not for a day or on days I feel like but every single day. And this is possibly the life of more than half of women in the world!

We definitely find time to be happy and count our small wins but we could be happier if the world supports and recognizes the unseen efforts that take most of our time and excludes us from gainful economic activities and leadership positions. Yet, we still have to support the economy.

In the coming times, the world should gift mothers and women a happier day by making sure that their time and efforts spent providing care, counts and is fully compensated and recognized as a contribution to the world’s prosperity. We need the women’s rights movement to recognize Mother’s Day as a time for advocacy to make mothers and women truly happy. It should be recognized more as a day to celebrate the contribution of women to the most important sector of the economy- care work- and rally the world to not only recognize it but channel adequate resources to support the work especially in communities. No one should keep cheering on free labor and expecting those providing it to be happy. Giving mothers more time to rest, take part in leisure activities, pursue passions and goals outside of the household and take part in public interests would be the ultimate gifts on Mother’s Day.  

More power to all mothers and all women playing the role to make the world a better place for our families and communities.

Regardless of it all: Happy Mother’s Day to all moms on World Pulse and everyone playing the role in different capacities.