ALBAY Second District Representative Joey Salceda has filed a bill seeking to provide compensation to stay-at-home housewives.Salceda said House Bill 668 aims to recognize the work of housewives or stay-at-home mothers to ensure the welfare of their families, such as taking and/or fetching their children to and/or from school, assist them in their school homework, manage very limited family budget, do grocery shopping and plan the menu and cook nutritious yet budget meals.He said to avoid distortions in the labor market and because of fiscal constraints, the state should at the very least provide some social assistance support targeted to stay-at-home mothers, especially those belonging to the poor families who care for at least one child aged 12 or below.“Under conventional economics, work that is not paid for does not count as productive labor,” he said.“Sadly, these works are not considered productive. Our society considers stay-at-home mothers to be ‘doing nothing’ because they do not go out to work at a paid job like their husbands. Every work of a housewife can be considered ‘social reproductive work,’ but most could not see this,” he added.Salceda said that if housewives will take out their services, husbands will be less productive at work while their children will be underperforming in school or may even be delinquents and pose a threat to society.He said this will “grind to a halt” the country’s production process.Salceda likened the work of the stay-at-home mothers to household helpers who are getting paid monthly.“The State must therefore recognize the work of stay-at-home women, mothers or housewives as valuable economic activity. It is time to appreciate their worth and contribution in nation-building,” he said.“Yes, it is time to make payment for their housework and give them wages for the work they continue to bear out at home. The homemaker or housewife deserves at least an amount equivalent to a minimum wage, considering that household work is also a full-time job,” he added. (SunStar Philippines)