PERFORMANCE CLASS
FROM KREISKY'S LIVING ROOM
Veronika Bohrn Mena
PERFORMANCE CLASS
How women carry us through all crises unthanked and unrecognised
Women keep our society running, they carry our community. Their work is „systemically relevant“ in many respects, because without them nothing would work. They do the parenting and emotional care work, they help, they care, they work tirelessly, mostly underpaid, often completely unpaid. And they often work in professions whose services are indispensable to us all, but which are nevertheless not remunerated accordingly.
If women were to stop working for just one day, our civilisation would inevitably collapse. From dawn to dusk, whether at home or at work, they work de facto around the clock. They form the foundation of our economy, unpaid and often unrecognised. Women sacrifice their time and often their own physical and mental well-being, from their youth to old age. They carry us through all crises.
Even if it wasn't recognised, the extreme imbalance in the distribution of time and money was a fact even before the coronavirus crisis. The crisis has further exacerbated this imbalance. The effects of this imbalance affect every area of life and are sometimes devastating - especially for women.
How are women currently faring in the world of work, in old age, as carers or as mothers? In her latest book „Leistungsklasse“, Veronika Bohrn Mena explores these questions based on personal perspectives and facts and argues in favour of a redistribution of time, work and money.
Veronika Bohrn Mena (* 1986 in Salzburg) is an author, labour market expert and columnist. For ten years, she has been focussing on precarious working conditions, atypical employment, segmentation processes and changes in the world of work, including their effects.
Full-time trade union member since 2013. Previously as Chairwoman of the Generation Internship Platform and starting in the Social Policy Department of the ÖH Federal Representation.
Veronika Bohrn Mena:
Performance class. How women carry us through all crises unappreciated and unrecognised.
ÖGB Verlag, November 2020, ISBN: 978-3-99046-473-1, 19. 90 €