The double life of Ghanaian women

Abstract

While entrance of women into paid work has been celebrated globally as a progress, it has added to their already existing burden of caring for young  ones in the family and other household chores; a situation generally referred to as the ‘double burden’ or the ‘second shift’. In exploring this  phenomenon, scholars have brought to light the inequity existing in household labour that has left women doing most of the domestic unpaid tasks  associated with childcare and domestic work in addition to paid work. This qualitative research addressed the double life Ghanaian professionals  experience in combining work and family roles. The data for the study was obtained from 20 respondents who were wives, mothers and career women.  The result indicates that women generally want equal male participation in unpaid work in the private sphere. As a result, most women in the study  bargain out domestic tasks with men or contest men to get men to take part in unpaid work. It was concluded that instead of women’s actions to get  men involved in unpaid work bringing change, it rather brings resistance from the men. This illuminates the fact that gender equality may not be easily  achieved in relation to gendered practices around domestic unpaid work.