Humphrey’s Unpaid Labor

Unpaid household and care labor in Canada alone is estimated to be worth up to $319 billion in the money economy or 41% of GDP,and as high as $11 trillion worldwide!  

While most people (and dogs) do at least some unpaid labor – caregiving, cooking, shopping, household security (woof!) – in most mixed-gender domestic arrangements, women take on the larger share of household and care labor. Statistics Canada reports that in 2005 wives put in 46% of the total time couples spent at jobs and 62% of the time they spent on housework. Much of the gender differences in wealth (women still only earn about 0.75 on the dollar to men for the same job) can be explained by the gendering of work and family roles that restrictswomen’s ability to build up assets over the life course.

 

Humphrey is extremely sensitive to these gender inequities, and he always makes a point of pitching in to try to help his Guardian. Given his diminutive stature and absence of opposable digits, his contributions are limited – but he helps out every day in the hope that he can equalize the gender gap. He firmly believes that “the personal is the political” - if he perpetuates gender and species inequities at home, they will continue to exist in society. So, by taking action in his own personal relationships, he can chip away at hegemony little by little.

In addition to security, he makes a point of doing laundry….

 …and recycling…

Here's a video of him on the job: