Topic: 2024-Unpaid Care and Domestic Work
Country: Jordan
Delegate Name: Elizabeth Torres-Salas
Integrated within the cultural dynamic of the country, the role of women in caretaking positions comes as a way between the people and the state. The difference between the workforce and underpaid labor is connected. Those who are least likely to be in the workforce, most of the time being women, are more likely to be underpaid for their labor. To combat this, the government has been able to provide resources that would help with the redistribution of unpaid labor at the state level. In the past decades, the implantation policies, such as required paid leave, have been in place since the mid-1990s and have been continuously updated. Yet there is still so much improvement that can be made to help better the unpaid labor that is faced in Jordan.
In 2010, Jordan placed a system that allows for employer-based maternity leave, which requires employers to put .75% of their payroll into the government. This helps contribute to workers as a whole, not just women. By 2019, there was an increase in laws surrounding care, with new laws being made regarding labor, nurseries, and early childhood care and education services. The 2019 labor law is amended to have included paid maternity leave and also includes three days paid leave for the fathers as well, despite this advancement, the effects of the law have yet to be seen due to the timing of the pandemic. Article 72 under the Jordanian labor law enforces more regulations with nurseries, clearly stating worker limits and child age and number limits. This article also announces the governmental plan to build 80 nurseries and create 700 new jobs. The increase in nurseries plans to help with the care of the children of the country as well as employ hundreds of new people who can add to the workforce, mostly in urban areas. Along with the nurseries, the Ministry of Education said that kindergarten will be mandatory for children ages 5-6. This will help increase the advantages of children throughout the country. Elder care is another subject that Jordan plans to accentuate further. Many women throughout Jordan are left to care for elders and/or those with disabilities. As of the current day, there is no official policy regarding the extra spending or care that comes with looking after the chronically ill or disabled; this is a topic that Jordan wishes to improve on.
The topic of unpaid care and domestic work is a subject that Jordan has been improving with and plans to work on more in the future. The past few decades have shown an increase in laws that aim to better this issue, and Jordan is still currently proposing new methods that they can use to improve. With the recent increase of laws and regulations in 2019, there is still time to see how those laws will affect Jordan in a long term sense. Overall Jordan hopes to help lessen the unpaid care and domestic work that women face in the country.
Sources: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/statement/2024/10/care-a-critical-investment-for-gender-equality-and-the-rights-of-women-and-girls
https://ardd-jo.org/publication/care-matters-the-value-of-womens-unpaid-care-work-in-jordan/
