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A foundational asymmetry: gender, unpaid care work, and the market economy

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  • Kabeer, Naila

Abstract

The structures of patriarchy are characterized by considerable variety across the world, but they have one feature in common which appears with monotonous regularity across a range of different contexts: an asymmetrical gender division of labour which assigns primary responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work to women and girls within the household while giving men privileged access to material resources and economic opportunities. This asymmetry, and the form that it takes in different contexts, is foundational to the varying patterns of gender injustice we see across the world. This paper focuses on how it shapes various forms of gender disadvantage in the economic domain and its implications for gendered risks of poverty and illbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Kabeer, Naila, 2026. "A foundational asymmetry: gender, unpaid care work, and the market economy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 137181, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:137181
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    File URL: https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/137181/
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    JEL classification:

    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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