Fuel price rises and challenges for women ahead

Sylvia Yazid, Bandung

Have you talked to your maid lately? I have, and she told me how she has to spend more to buy a sack of rice and other daily needs, and how she has to allocate more money for her and her daughter's transportation, and how her husband, who is a part time driver, did not get any Lebaran (Idul Fitri) bonus this year because the company's management decided so.

These are just some of the immediate challenges faced by most housewives in Indonesia since the fuel price rises almost a month ago.

The fuel prices rises is not just about how prices of daily needs go up, or how the poor suffer or even die in queues to obtain the fuel compensation assistance. We need to see the bigger picture here. We need to anticipate the challenges ahead.

The life of every single citizen in Indonesia from every strata of society, men and women, has been affected by this big change. But it can be argued that women, especially those from low-income households, will experience greater impact because of their multiple roles in society.

So, what are the long-term impacts of fuel price rises on women's work? The answer to this question might take the form of a really long list of strongly related impacts. In reproductive work, having a new child might take longer and require deeper thinking because it will definitely cost more.

Even for the children who are already born and growing up, a caring mother will have to think about their education, health, entertainment and other needs. Although the government has promised to allocate extra funds for some basic services such as education and health, a growing child, especially in this socially demanding modern world, has additional needs.

The challenges in reproductive work will definitely lead to other challenges in productive work. If women want to maintain the living standards of the members of their households, like it or not, they will have to become more involved in income earning activities.

Housewives might have to consider starting income generating activities, and those who are already working might need to work twice as hard. However, the fields of work for women are quite limited, and what is available can be risky.

Take Indonesian migrant workers as an example. Being a migrant worker can be quite profitable. It certainly pays more compared to the same type of job in Indonesia. Furthermore, when women start earning income, in most cases it will mean that they will have to leave the house for long periods of time.

Then what happens to the management of the household and to the bearing and rearing of children? We are talking about a society that still strongly believes that the responsibility of bearing and educating children at home lies with women. With mothers busy working for money, either at home or outside, we can expect more families with children who have received reduced attention from their mothers.

Community work, just like reproductive work, is usually under- valued because it is seen as natural and non-productive. It may not be measurable like productive work, which can be valued by the money earned, but they are definitely significant in the context of a society's development. When there are problems with the provision of basic services from the state, either because of lack of provision or high cost, women will have to adapt the way they manage their households to the existing conditions.

It seems that there is a very small possibility that the government will undo their policy. Although making themselves heard by the government is important for women, there are more important matters that have to be considered for the time being. The challenge for women is how to survive this situation and live their lives. There will be sacrifices involved.

Hard work is definitely required. Patience, a clear mind and creativity is needed. At the same time, we have to keep on hoping that the government will allocate more consideration to the gender dimension, especially the interests of women, in making any policies in the future.

Although some might say that Indonesian women are survivors and have the strength and patience to go through difficult times, we have to remember that women also have significant roles, responsibilities and influences in our society. For this reason, one of the ways to nurture society is to take good care of women.

The writer is a lecturer at the Indonesian relations department, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung.