EPIRA and the Filipino Women: The dynamics of women’s Reproductive Work in the context of EPIRA

Abstract

EPIRA was the law that unleashed the "real cost of electricity". As such, the subsequent years of the implementation of this policy witnessed rise in electricity rates. In the Philippines, this raise in rates affects the limited budget of families, especially, those in the urban poor. Women being the primary household production workers are also the primary and largest end-user of electricity. As such, they are rendered the most vulnerable to the impacts of high electricity rates. With the limited access to electricity, women members of the family, particularly mothers, experience dual burden. This is because they perform both productive and reproductive works for the family. The productive work is classified as the work done by mothers, which directly earn income. On the other hand, reproductive work or women's work are those unpaid works performed by mothers.