The essentials
Work is any purposeful activity that produces goods or services, whether or not it is paid. It gives people income, identity, social contacts and a sense of achievement. Who does what work in a society is strongly shaped by age and gender.
Children below a certain age should be in school and at play, not in labour. In India, the law prohibits the employment of children below 14 years in any occupation (apart from narrow exceptions such as helping in a family enterprise after school hours), and adolescents (14–18 years) cannot be employed in hazardous work. Older people may continue to work for income, for a sense of purpose, or because they lack social security.
Gender roles are the behaviours a society expects from men and women. Traditionally, men were seen as "breadwinners" doing paid work outside the home, while women did unpaid domestic and care work. This gender division of labour is learned, not natural, and it is changing as women enter every field.
Key points
- Unpaid work: cooking, cleaning, caring for children and the elderly — essential but not counted as income.
- Double burden: many working women do paid work and still carry most household work.
- Gender stereotyping: assuming certain jobs suit only men (engineering, driving) or only women (nursing, teaching young children).
- Equal pay: the principle that men and women doing the same or similar work get the same wages.
- Child labour harms health, education and development and keeps families in poverty.
- Work for the elderly can be flexible, part-time, voluntary or advisory.
Common mistakes
- Thinking that only paid work counts as work.
- Treating gender roles as biological facts; sex is biological, gender roles are social.