A lawmaker has proposed a measure to provide PHP2,000 (US$35.98) per month to stay-at-home women from low-income families.
Albay representative Joey Salceda refiled House Bill 668 or the “Housewives Compensation Act” that seeks to recognize housewives’ work in running the household, which he argued should be seen as “social reproductive work” that nurtures the future and current workforce.
Salceda, an economist, argued in the bill’s explanatory note that housewives play a crucial role in keeping the economy running as it keeps spouses and children productive at work and in school.
“The State must therefore recognize the work of stay-at-home women, mothers or housewives as valuable economic activity. Yes, it is time to make payment for their housework and give them wages for the work they continue to bear out at home,” his explanatory note read.
The subsidy proposal would cover stay-at-home women living below the poverty line with no part-time or home-based work who are also taking care of a child aged 12 or below.
Once the bill is passed, the government would utilize the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) to identify which households qualify for the program.
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