Social innovation initiatives for redistribution of care work in households for rural women

Abstract

Different feminist movements have sought to make visible the daily care work performed by women in the home. These jobs have not been recognized either by the states or by the current economic model, ignoring the contribution that women make to families, the state and society through their work. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation of women has worsened considerably not only in economic and social aspects, but also increased the inequality gap with men, generating a difficult situation for both women and their families. Considering this problematic, this article aims to answer the following research question: What could be the social innovation initiatives that would contribute to the redistribution of care work in households for rural women in the department of Boyacá in the context of the post-pandemic COVID-19? To answer this question, two objectives were proposed: first, to contrast the factors that explain the inequitable distribution of unpaid work in the household identified in the literature with the life histories of rural women in the department of Boyacá by studying the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on these dynamics. And second, to establish social innovation initiatives for the post-pandemic COVID-19 context, aligned with the factors that explain the inequity in the redistribution of unpaid work in the household based on the People-Centered Design methodology. A methodological structure was established based on People-Centered Design, comprising three phases: Listen, Create and Deliver. It is expected that the results of the research will be translated into social innovation initiatives that contribute to reducing and redistributing unpaid care work in rural households.