Guest Writer

Gender gaps in time use

The Cayman Islands, which was long dubbed the “Islands Time Forgot”, transformed over the span of 50 odd years from a sleepy farming and fishing village way of life to an economically progressive jewel of the Caribbean. In the Cayman of yesteryear when families worked together from home to produce goods and services, childbearing and rearing co-existed more easily because children were not considered a financial burden on a household but were viewed as future participants in the subsistence activities of the home.

This transformation into the modern way of life that we now know included the participation of women in employment not only in the private sphere of households as paying employers but into the paid economy of the public sphere. While international research has shown that the participation of women in the paid economy benefits not only their families but also the development of the country, the resulting changes within households have created a gender gap in time use between women and men.

The increased demand for women’s time and skills in the labour market has not resulted in a compatible increase of men’s time in the household regarding caregiving work for children and/or the elderly. The corporate or public sectors have also not introduced onsite day care or well established adult day care programmes. As a result of these employment changes, relationships between spouses, partners, and members of the households have transformed. Households in the Cayman Islands have become heavily depended on immigrant domestic workers — almost exclusively female — to provide the caregiving and other critical domestic work.

Paid and unpaid work

Regardless of where you call home, what currency you use or what language you speak, time is the one thing in the world that needs no currency conversion chart or an interpreter. Every day consists of 24 hours, and everyone has the same amount of time allotted to them per day. However, what a person does within those 24 hours is often times influenced by whether a person is male or female. Additionally, what one does with his or her time during those 24 hours determines whether or not they will be paid and how much they will be compensated.

Based on data from the 2010 Census of Population and Housing, females overall in the Cayman Islands performed paid work an average of 36 hours per week compared with 42.6 hours performed by males. However, Non-Caymanian females worked 42 hours per week on average, which was more than both Caymanian females (30.8 hours) and Caymanian males (37.3 hours). Non-Caymanian males averaged the longest work week at 47.9 hours of paid work.

While the 2010 Census did not measure time use of caregiving tasks, the 1999 Cayman Islands Population and Housing Census did. That census revealed that females aged 15 and over when compared to their male counterparts spend more time doing unpaid housework and unpaid child care, and the residents of East End, North Side and Cayman Brac spent more time on unpaid housework than other districts. On average, females spent 13.5 hours and males spent 7.2 hours on unpaid housework per week.

Excluding persons who did not spend any time on child care, the average time spent by persons delivering unpaid child care was 19.1 hours, with females spending 22.5 hours and males 13.7 hours per week. Interestingly, 15.5% of the 1999 population reported spending time on unpaid elderly care with males and females 15 years or older spending comparable amounts of time. Females spent 5.7 hours and males 5.3 hours per week.

Effects of the gender gaps in time use

Unpaid work by women and men benefits many people both inside and outside the household, but often times this unpaid work is so intrinsically linked to feminine gender roles that women are expected to carry out these unpaid tasks regardless of their paid employment status. Therefore, because women continue to bear the greatest responsibility for and spend the most time on unpaid childrearing, caregiving and domestic work, this affects the amount of time that they are able to engage in the paid economy. Often times this puts women in financially vulnerable positions because they are not able to earn an income in the same manner as men.

In the 2010 Census, chronic non-communicable diseases were more prevalent among females and this gender gap was widest for persons with high blood pressure. It gives reason to wonder if women’s load of multi-tasking both paid and unpaid work has not only left them unable to earn more money in the paid economy but also exhausted and putting their health at risk.

Promoting gender equality

What can be done to help close the gender gaps in time use? As a society,private and public sector organisations can encourage family friendly policies around issues such as maternityand paternity leave, parental leave, flexible work hours and locations, onsite or referred child care assistance, and flexible workforce entry and re-entry opportunities.  Employers can ensure that women and men are receiving equal pay for work of equal value, and they are in compliance with other areas of the Gender Equality Law. 

On an individual level, we can begin to teach our children that caregiving and housework are not demeaning activities but they are valuable and necessary skills that ensure the effective running of a household and positively benefit society in the long run. By also not stereotyping these activities for only girls or women to perform, we are one step closer to closing the gender gaps in time use.

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Credit where credit is due

The primary difference between the two political parties in Cayman is that one is clearly better at managing the economy than the other. Here is the evidence: Everyone knows that our country has been in a recession for the past several years; however, theheadlines of the February 1 Caymanian Compass clearly confirms that our economy is finally on the right track towards recovery.

Air arrivals were up by 4.1 per cent in 2012 – the highest in 11 years. Cruise arrivals were also up, with an increase of 7.6 per cent over 2011. We are actually now spending 35 per cent less on the Department of Tourism and the results have been the best they’ve been in 12 years.

And the economic picture even gets better. Property sales are up, three new hotels are being considered for development; expenses for the public service are lower than expected and revenues are higher than expected; and major developments like the East End hospital project and Cayman Enterprise City are well under way.

Even the Compass’s Editorial of February 1st had to commend that “positive things are starting to happen; our country is on the right track toward recovery and economic success”.

But who really deserves the credit for this turn around? Politicians often get the blame when things go wrong; however, if we are truly being fair they should also get the credit when things go right. While there are those who will never admit it – Hon McKeeva Bush is the person who deserves the credit for engineering this economic turnaround.  Minster Cline Glidden cannot claim the credit for this success because although he was a member of UDP he was actually a back bencher during this period and not a minster.

Despite all of the usual political rhetoric and mudslinging that will come during this election season, let’s give credit where credit is due. Running a country in the current global economic environment is no easy task. Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm; but the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

We all know that the primary reason our country was in a financial mess was because the PPM government engaged in a wanton spending spree between 2005 and 2009. But now that the UDP has turned the country’s finances in the right direction, even hardline PPM supporters and the usual Hon “McKeeva Haters” will have to reluctantly admit that the UDP is better at managing the economy than the PPM.

The facts speak for themselves.

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Gender gaps and income

In the Cayman Islands, between 1989 and 1999 females’ mean income almost doubled, compared with a 74.6% increase for males. However, the absolute value of this increase was still less than that for males and the gender income gap actually grew during that period. It was not until the new millennium that the increase in females’ mean income narrowed this gap, from 24% in 1999 to 16.6% in 2010.

Data from the 2010 Census of Population and Housing reveal that females also earned less money than their male counterparts at every level of education and within many occupations and industries. The widest gap was found in elementary occupations, where a female earned an average of 64¢ for every $1.00 that a male earned. University-educated women earned $17,431 less than university-educated men per year, which added up to a difference of over 23%.

While this gap has closed over time, the continuing difference in the average income of males and females reflects lingering inequalities in our society and it is important to address the root causes of inequality in order to create a better and more equal future. When males and females have the same opportunities to earn income there are positive effects for women, for children and families, for the economy, and for society as a whole.

Direct and indirect discrimination

Direct discrimination in income can occur when men and women receive different pay for the same work or when they have different job requirements for the same pay. These discrepancies may be based on sex or on gender characteristics, which are qualities that define what we think of as “femininity” and “masculinity”. For example, an employer may assume that a woman wouldn’t be able to take on a difficult new task because females are not as good at complex problem-solving, or may believe that only a man should be promoted to a management position because males are inherently better leaders.

Indirect discrimination in income is even more complicated and can result from a number of different factors that people often don’t consider. For example, women tend to work fewer hours than men and takecareer breaks because of the unequal burden of unpaid domestic work and caring for children and the elderly. Additionally, jobs traditionally associated with men tend to pay better than traditionally female jobs for the same level of skill required and irrespective of the level of qualification.

Stereotypes and prejudices

Women’s work is undervalued in part because they are seen as having primary responsibility for unpaid work in the home and caregiving. This channels females into similar occupations and industries, such as domestic work, education and human services. The skills required in these roles and “feminine talents” like caring and nurturing are not rewarded or well-paid. Once the gender division of labour is established it encourages women to choose these occupations. Employers often further reinforce the division by not adapting work environments to suit men and women or by favouring one sex over the other.

Women also tend to be at a disadvantage in the labour market because some behaviours — like self-promotion and negotiation — that work for men and lead to higher salaries and career progression may actually backfire on women and cause them to be penalised when they are perceived differently.

When we have expectations or feelings about people based their sex or gender we may act in ways that negatively affect them. Often we don’t even think about these stereotypes or prejudices and hurt or disadvantage someone without even realising it. We might think that we are simply behaving in ways that accurately reflect the realities or abilities of men and women, but we are actually discriminating and reinforcing inequality.

Promoting gender equality

Gender gaps in part reflect the outcomes of discriminatory social processes. Therefore, valuing girls and boys and men and women equally and promoting equality of opportunity in all areas is important to minimise discrimination that leads to and reinforces inequality.

As individuals we can all strive to recognise stereotypes or prejudices we may have about the qualities or capabilities of males and females and what roles, career paths and other personal choices are “suitable” for each sex.

When we are more conscious of these assumptions we can choose how we respond – within our families and home lives; in the workplace as employers and employees; as parents, teachers and mentors to children; and in other relationships and positions that we have and hold. We can choose to act in ways that promote equality.

In 2013, make it a New Year’s Resolution to promote gender equality. Don’t stereotype.

Under the Gender Equality Law, 2011, it is illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, marital status or pregnancy in employment and related matters or to pay unequal remuneration to men and women performing work of equal value. If you believe you have been discriminated against you can make a complaint to the Gender Equality Tribunal. For more information, please contact get@gov.ky or 244-3226 or visit www.genderequality.gov.ky.

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Don’t follow leaders who make detours

Being rich and successful is not by itself a prerequisite for elected office, yet we hear ourselves crying aloud the wishes of some that those who have made money, retired from work and can now support the comforts and habits they have become accustomed to should now take over political leadership of our country because they have no need of our money.

I wish I could say the same about CUC, Fosters, my bank and other financial institutions, but when was need ever the cause of millionaires wanting to become billionaires and billionaires working even harder to remain billionaires.

Greed is never the reason members of civil society and holders of public office betrayed your trust; it was want, and mostly ‘I want to be like them’ or simply ‘I want to be better than them’.  From the day mankind began stratifying society and stratification became the method of preserving the status quo or established order or hierarchy, it became not just an individual’s choice to want always more, it became our nature. 

Of course, we may say that our civil society is full of greed (call it ambition, then) but, unlike our government, is free of corruption. However, discrimination in itself is corruption and there is still plenty of that in our work environment, even if what we call it is just ‘them not wanting us to have what they got’.  The long struggle to establish a law to protect the wealth which Caymanians should be entitled to collectively as a nation in the form of the Legal Practitioners Law is one case in point of attempts by expat lawyers to preserve the perverted differences in entitlements between Caymanians and some expats.

As Caymanians we have always approached the issue of economic differences as if it was something ordained by God and therefore no one should question the realities of the social and cultural divisions this system of division of our nation’s wealth has created. It is as if we accepted from the outset that we had no wealth to start with and all that was accumulated over the years should go to expat knowledge workers and a few chosen Caymanians elected by them to partake in their private gathering of wealth, while little or nothing is paid towards the national entity which made the financial service industry a well sought after asset.

The Caymanian court of arms(flag) and our well established property laws govern and protects, with the blessing of the United Kingdom, foreign commercial entities from direct taxation and this allows many of them to make billions of dollars in untaxed profits. Our commercial value is therefore connected to the needs of international capitalism for neutral non-tax jurisdictions. But if this asset was not protected in a way that its benefits had a greater trickledown effect to all of us, then those now leaving the expat controlled world to manage our government cannot be entrusted to manage our government so that we as Caymanians will finally come first.

If we were talking oil, gold or silver, then anyone would have noted from the outset that the Cayman Islands has an economic value by virtue of its being a unique national entity, and would have wanted a greater share of the profits made by knowledge- workers employed by our on-shore cooperation, but because most of us cannot comprehend the concept of invisible capital or invisible gold we continue to sell off our entitlements for little or nothing.

Therefore, Caymanians, when asking what went wrong and what is wrong with our country and what kind of leadership we now need in order to deal with these challenges, we should not forget that: “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voices of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” (Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia)

I am very happy we now have so many educated Caymanians entering politics but I would have been much pleased if even one among them was an economist.  And let us not forget that, although education or specialization in law and accountancy may be real qualities when it comes to accounting for someone else’s money, additional qualifications and experiences are necessary when the goal of the organization is human as well as material. 

Caymanians, we have a long way forward and we must continue to think future rather than follow leaders who make detours. Man cannot live from bread alone and, regardless of what each of our contributions may be to our society, we each have the same share when it comes to the nation and the power of establishing government.  Our new leaders may not need to know personally the plight of the poor, the sick or the unemployed and unemployable but a long career of rubbing shoulders only with the rich and powerful does not make anyone incorruptible  or capable of providing the caring leadership we need in these serious times.

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Letter to the Governor

Please accept this letter as an apology on the behalf of the vast majority of Caymanians I have spoken with and heard comment from (The Silent Majority) that we have been deeply embarrassed by the behaviour of McKeeva Bush as a Caymanian and even more so as a premier, supposedly representing us.

We believe that, although you may have known all along, you can now see that McKeeva did not represent the majority of Caymanians in what he said or did.  He was able to continue to wield power largely because of his manipulation of the issue of ‘One Man One Vote’ over the years, which allowed him to operate with a minority of support from voting Caymanians.

Over his period of power, McKeeva has made many decisions that we have been very much against but have been unable to prevent. In this most recent term, he has cost the country millions of dollars as a direct result of his decisions and actions. I am sure we do not have a full understanding of all he has cost us, but cancelling the port project started by the PPM and the costs associated with that, the whole Cohen fiasco, the cancelling of the GLF port deal and the associated penalties are some of the issues which have cost us unnecessarily. We are sure we will continue to see issues come to light that will end up costing us even more.

We are very concerned about what he may have tried to commit these Islands to that we may not be aware of as yet. We have no way of knowing what these may be but a recent example would be the attempted deal with the Philippine Airlines.

Of major and urgent concern to us is the ongoing Dart deal in which he was instrumental.  While none of us would try to stop Dart from investing in Cayman, we believe (especially where concessions are being sought from our government) it has to be done in a manner which is beneficial to both the Caymanian people and the Dart Group. From the little information we have, it seems obvious that McKeeva did not get a fair deal for the Caymanian people. We have not been allowed access to the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, but from all accounts it did not find the deal to be fair and we are sure it looked at the issues raised by many regarding, amongst other issues, future concessions which were to be given to the Dart Group.

Probably the most urgent issue is the closure of a stretch of the West Bay Road. This brings absolutely no benefit to the Caymanian people. The new road that Dart is building will open up his landlocked properties in that area and make them more valuable. While the new road will benefit the Caymanian people as a bypass road to ease traffic to and from West Bay, it also benefits Dart by increasing the value of his holdings in this area. The closing of a stretch of the current West Bay Road benefits no one except the Dart group. 

We therefore urge you to use all your powers to stop the closure of this stretch of West Bay Road.  If McKeeva has bound us in some way, we ask you to stand firm and fight it, even legally if necessary, as you are our last chance to stop it.  It is Crown land and you will have to sign transfers of ownership if that is the manner in which it was planned. We ask you to refuse on our behalf to do this. We understand this may require public funds being utilized if it becomes a legal battle and we have been very upset with the wasting of public funds over these recent years, but we feel very strongly that this is an issue worth fighting for, especially when compared to some of the wasted funds in previous cancelled deals.

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‘Not them’ isn’t a qualification

Some believe doggedly in the FCO ‘conspiracy’ and are throwing their full support behind Mac going into the General Elections (assuming he makes it to that stage as an eligible candidate). Another group has some concerns regarding the FCO’s approach to recent events but feel that McKeeva is not fit for the job simply due to his incompetence, not because of the so-called conspiracy.

Another group rejects any form of FCO responsibility and is basically happy that with Mac’s fall the country has a chance of recovering from his poor leadership. Finally, we have the hard core ‘anti bushites’, who are happy that he is gone and are completely comfortable with the idea that the FCO (or anyone else for that matter) may have had a hand in his downfall (i.e. “thanks for helping us out”).

Wherever you stand, there is no doubt that the issue has the potential to divide the country, although not as much as party politics has over the past 12 years.

The differences of opinion on a national level is now also leading to calls for the scalps of those that supported McKeeva over the years and this call goes beyond his inner political circle and extends now, it seems, to corporate support, business big wigs, etc. But while this point must be well taken, to take things down this road seems a huge waste of energy that would be better placed elsewhere, such as assessing the true qualities of alternative candidates in the upcoming election beyond the one ‘qualification’ they will try to keep at the forefront: that they are not McKeeva or UDP.

The role of corporate and other supporters, as long as it does not breach any laws, is a legitimate part of being involved in the political process in any democratic country. And this support is not always as unrelated to performance as one may think: if a government or politician gets support and then screws up, they will most likely lose that support the next time around. The so-called 'big wigs' in business have the right to change their support in the same way that we as individuals do. To suggest otherwise is to pander to the stupidity of party or group allegiance that is starting to plague this country; i.e. the idea that somehow, once you have been associated with one group or another, if you change later then you are dishonest or disingenuous, etc.

Secondly, seeking scalps ‘by association’ will not be effective because you can rest assured that the winning group would have had its share of support as well and sometimes from the very same persons/entities (because in Cayman that’s how the ‘game' is usually played, as many of us are starting to learn).

At the same time we don’t need to “forgive and forget”. In fact we can “punish”, especially elected members who we feel should have done better, by using our vote in May. But we must reserve some of our energy also for assessing the qualifications of anyone, whether party member or independent, who steps forward to suggest that they are the right answer to take our country forward.

‘Not McKeeva’, ‘not UDP’, ‘not PPM’ or even ‘being independent' are far from being qualifications for lifting the Cayman Islands out of this mess. We absolutely must forget the ‘perceived associations’, colours and t-shirts and focus on the candidates or, ironically, we will end up in the same place but with a different ‘group’ come the morning of May 23rd 2013.

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Power of the people

I have always marvelled at how disingenuous some people are – kissing up to the heavy, round derrières of those that wield the mighty sword of power, while simultaneously bad-mouthing the same in the comfort and quiet of their tight and trusted circles of friends, family and co-conspirators. Shameful to think that the power is with the people, yet they have long been afraid to use it.

Cayman has long been held captive by the power of one man … and his comrades. Yes, comrades – for they were willing participants. Don't think for one minute that they were dragged kicking and screaming. They had the numbers; they had the power; but they chose to go along.

Now that they have disbanded they expect us to embrace them and praise their noble stance. And some have. "Let's forgive and forget. Get on with the business of running our great country."

Yet, I am still bruised by the past. I am having a hard time letting go. It's too soon. I want to make them suffer for their past sins. I want to take them into the town square and make an example of them. I want to see them pay for their blind allegiance to a man that has been steering his runaway train with each of them happily seated therein, shouting, "Choo Choo!" They were accessories, cohorts, cronies, accomplices … what have you.

To expect us to forget and move on is callous, unfair and speaks to an air of entitlement that leaves a nasty taste in my mouth – yet again. Yes, they are a far cry better than what we had – but without THEM we may have been rid of that cancer much sooner.

But that is just a small part of my trauma. They alone could not facilitate the madness that has swallowed up this little set of islands. That effort was due in large part to the Cayman mafia – the 'illuminati' of sorts – those businessmen and women who smiled in the face of tyranny and played a heavy role in supporting the main man because it suited their purposes and needs. We all know that presidents and governments do not function under their own influence altogether. They are reliant on the 'help' of those of affluence and influence. Cayman is no different.

I found it intriguing that recent events seemed orchestrated by a few who are rarely seen or associated, but we all know they have been the driving forces behind the man that was. Funny how tables turn, isn't it, when those who think THEY are thereal power suddenly end up on the wrong side of the tracks because their purpose has been served and they are no longer needed.

So, it would appear that our deposed premier was merely a puppet himself. One who got a little too big for his britches and who began to forget his place. See how easily he was destroyed? Does he really think his little group of West Bay faithful can resurrect his dying career as a politician? He is nothing without the Cayman mafia. He just doesn't know it yet.

Which takes us to the real eye-opener of the day: Who is in charge? To whom do we owe a debt of thanks for ridding us of the Wicked Witch of the West? (Whom they created, after all!) To whom should we bow in fear as they are clearly the masters of our destiny, the manipulators of the seemingly powerful and the controllers of our fate?

Those are the ones that we must serve, that coalition of businessmen and women who have the ability to make a call and get it done. (Yes we know all about that!)

Ever since news broke of the arrest and eventual dethroning, I have wrestled with a serious concern. Will they do it again? Will these godfathers attempt to put puppets back into power so that their empires will once again be beacons of prosperity and opulence?

What of their formula? Will they now adjust the measurements to ever after avoid the same result? Do they know how? I am fearful that they cannot do it. I am worried that they only know one recipe – that which ensures that their Frankenstein is obedient and loyal … until he isn’t. Then he wreaks havoc and terror on the township until the locals attack him to death with pitchforks and burning torches, forgetting that he had a creator – one who will someday want to build a new monster from the discarded, decaying parts of old premiers and parties.

So you see, while we are all picking at the entrails of Frankenstein. We have not bothered to look past the ends of our noses and examine how he got to be what he was.

We are at risk of repeated history if we, as voters, do not sharpen our senses and begin to support those who do not bring agendas, political posturing and a bag full of tricks. We can no longer vote on personality and popularity. We must examine the candidates, check their backgrounds and do our due diligence in order to ensure that we have people who seek to put our best interests at heart.

But even with that there are no guarantees. No one is impervious to the enticement of power and fame. No one can ever be totally resistant to the lure of wealth and financial independence. Every man has his price – and unfortunately, those who wish to maintain control are able to name the tune when the piper calls.

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