Time poverty of Pakistani immigrant women in Toronto

Abstract

ABSTRACTOver decades, economists and sociologists have established that women tend to work more than men if both paid and unpaid work are counted. Even with women’s increased labour force participation, men have only shown modest increases in unpaid domestic work. This study demonstrates, through time use diaries and interviews, a unique time use pattern by Pakistani Canadian immigrant women. The eight women in this study performed all or nearly all unpaid household tasks, suffered from time poverty due to cultural and family pressures, and experienced varying degrees of dis/satisfaction with their time use, becoming more aware of it through their participation in this project. This study concludes with policy implications, centering on the negative influences of the male breadwinner model on immigrant women which constructs them as a ‘burden’ on their husbands and renders these women’s unpaid work invisible.