Tag: Volunteerism

Unpaid Work and More

Everybody knows what labor is. It’s the activity performed by an individual in return for a paycheck. But what about all those other activities that are done that also benefit some or many people?

I asked Chat to list all the terms out there for unpaid work done in homes and communities. And here is what I got.

1. The Home

Unpaid labor focused on household maintenance, caregiving, and family life:

  • Household Production
  • Domestic Work
  • Unpaid Domestic Labor
  • Reproductive Labor
  • Invisible Labor
  • Social Reproduction
  • Home Production
  • Unpaid Household Services
  • Homemaking
  • Housekeeping
  • Child-Rearing
  • Elder Care
  • Family Caregiving
  • Emotional Labor (within the household)
  • Caregiving
  • Informal Care
  • Unpaid Childcare
  • Parental Care
  • Kin Care

2. The Office or Other Professional Settings

Unpaid or voluntary labor in organizational, administrative, or professional contexts:

  • Pro Bono Work
  • Volunteer Work (for professional organizations)
  • Advocacy Work (unpaid)
  • Mentorship (unpaid)
  • Internship (unpaid)
  • Apprenticeship (unpaid)
  • Emotional Labor (in workplace or professional settings)

3. The Church or Other Places of Worship

Unpaid labor related to spiritual, communal, or faith-based activities:

  • Charitable Work
  • Community Service
  • Faith-Based Caregiving
  • Volunteer Work (religious organizations)
  • Advocacy Work (faith-driven)
  • Grassroots Organizing
  • Altruistic Work

4. The Community Center or Public Spaces

Unpaid labor supporting community well-being and public engagement:

  • Mutual Aid
  • Neighborly Assistance
  • Community-Based Care
  • Volunteer Work
  • Charitable Work
  • Grassroots Organizing
  • Community Service
  • Non-Market Work
  • Social Support Work
  • Advocacy Work (public or civic)

5. Schools or Educational Settings

Unpaid labor supporting education, learning, and mentoring:

  • Unpaid Tutoring
  • Mentorship (unpaid)
  • Parent-Teacher Association Work
  • Volunteer Work (schools)
  • Advocacy for Education

6. Medical and Health-Related Facilities

Unpaid labor related to caregiving and health support:

  • Elder Care
  • Family Caregiving
  • Informal Care
  • Unpaid Childcare
  • Caregiving (medical settings)
  • Volunteer Work (hospitals and clinics)

7. Farms, Rural Settings, or Outdoor Spaces

Unpaid labor connected to food production or outdoor community support:

  • Subsistence Work
  • Self-Provisioning
  • Reciprocal Labor
  • Communal Work
  • Obligatory Labor (culturally expected in rural communities)

8. Government or Civic Buildings

Unpaid labor focused on governance, policy, and public service:

  • Advocacy Work (political or civic)
  • Volunteer Work (government programs)
  • Grassroots Organizing
  • Community Service

9. Museums, Theaters, and Cultural Institutions

Unpaid labor supporting arts, culture, and historical preservation:

  • Volunteer Work (cultural organizations)
  • Passion Work (for the arts)
  • Charitable Work (for cultural causes)

This categorization demonstrates how unpaid work is intricately woven into all aspects of society, emphasizing its importance across diverse settings. (end Chat)

Although a lengthy list, I think Chat missed a few.

A notable one is the hours tinkerers spend trying to develop new products and technologies. Did the Wright Brothers get paid for their first flight?

Another Labor Theory- Autonomous decision makers

Who are the actors in this model of labor for pay and volunteerism? Who are the laborers? They are individuals who act of their own free will. They are autonomous decision-makers; the labor in this theory is performed free from force.

Familiarity with labor for money makes the concept easy to accept. However, volunteerism is a newer type of work and deserves a little more attention. Volunteerism functions in conjunction with an individual’s shared interests. People are born to kin and kith; throughout their lives, they regroup with many other shared alliances. These affiliations result in obligations through reciprocity, attention to loyalties and possibly the necessity to exit.

The model requires an acceptance that an individual may pamper the ego and still consider others who fall within their life bubbles.

Suppose one were to write a symbolic notation of labor; one might start by defining L as the number of labor hours the individual allots to paid work and V as the number of hours allocated to volunteerism. If you had a couple where one worked 40 hours a week at a career and devoted 10 hours a week to help in the home, it would be shown as L subscript 40 V subscript 10. Let’s say the other partner worked 20 hours a week at a part-time job and filled in 30 hours to their home life; this would be shown as L subscript 20 and V subscript 30. Or- let’s say that both partners worked 40 and did domestic chores for 10; this could be written as 2(L subscript 40 + V subscript 10)