#ShareTheWork Newsletter (06.17.20)

Whether at home, at work, in public, or in our personal lives, it's important to #ShareTheWork. Dismantling inequality isn't inconsequential; it's physical, mental, and emotional labor.

We often talk about the need to #ShareTheWork at home and equitably divide up household chores, caregiving for children, and caring for elderly family members. UN Women estimates that the average woman spends 10 years on unpaid domestic tasks over her lifetime, while the average man spends only 4 years on these same tasks in his lifetime. Don't believe us? Try out this Unpaid Care Explainer for yourself—it calculates the approximate time you will spend on unpaid domestic tasks over the course of your life and shows you how you compare to the global averages.

At work, in pre-COVID times, #ShareTheWork called for an equal distribution of tasks such as organizing team-building events and other office functions. Today, more importantly, #ShareTheWork also means advocating for equality, diversity, and inclusion in a company's policies, programs, and practices. Calling for more inclusive recruitment policies and benefits shouldn't just fall on women and minorities; it actually puts their jobs at greater risk. In fact, non-minorities and men face lesser job risk in calling for diversity and inclusion, so everyone has a responsibility to speak up, advocate, and work to advance equality and inclusion in the workplace (looking at you, men and non-minorities!).

In public, #ShareTheWork includes a responsibility for intersectional activism. Activism for equality and inclusion is not exclusive to one gender, one race, or one identity. If you are able to, join an upcoming Black Lives Matter protest near you, donate to a local bail fund or nonprofit, and constructively call out family members and friends who make racist, sexist, or homophobic comments.

In our personal lives, #ShareTheWork doesn't have to be limited to housework. It also can include sharing the mental and emotional labor of unlearning racism and promoting equality. Try reading books, watching films, listening to podcasts, etc. by non-white, LGBTQ+, and female creators. Start implementing language that doesn't have racist, homophobic, or sexist origins, and ask others to do the same. Our individual and collective actions shape the culture that we live in.

Just as women should not be the only ones doing household work, oppressed groups should not be the only ones actively fighting against discrimination, injustice, and systemic inequities. We're all in this together. We all have to #ShareTheWork.