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HCM CITY — Experts at a conference held yesterday in HCM City discussed measures designed to balance the burden of unpaid domestic work within families.

The conference – titled “Family care work: Status and value assessment” – was held by the Vietnam Women Research Institute.

Director of the institute Nguyễn Hoàng Oanh said that based on research shown during the conference, the institute would propose measures to promote the value of domestic work and the people in charge of such work towards building an equal family.

Trần Thị Kim Thanh, head of the Gender Equality and Children Division under the HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the department’s latest survey conducted in District 3 and District 10 showed women spend ten times more time on domestic work than men.

The national action programme on gender equality had targeted acknowledging women’s contributions to socio-economic development and poverty reduction, she said.

Thanh added that more education was needed to help both men and women gain a deeper understanding of gender equality. Besides, more opportunities should be created so women and girls can develop.

Experts also discussed how to assign domestic work to children, the implementation of laws and policies related to unpaid domestic work, awareness among men of domestic work and support from smart devices.

The experts believed sharing domestic work properly was an urgent step to ease the burden for women and enhance men’s role in domestic affairs. It would also express the love of family members as they join hands to build a happy family. — VNS