The Domestic Is Political: What is the Domestic Equality Index or DEI?

The Domestic Is Political: What is the Domestic Equality Index or DEI?

Paolo Groppo has developed an indicator that can highlight the coherence between discourse, words, and concrete actions to "stimulate a path of change toward true equality."

Monica Lanfranco, journalist and trainer on gender difference and conflict, founded the gender culture quarterly MAREA.

(Original version of the article: https://www.noidonne.org/articoli/il-domestico-politico-cosa-laindice-di-parit-domestica-o-ipad.php&nbsp)

Sunday, October 13, 2024 - It's called DEI, an acronym for Domestic Equality Index. An index designed by scholar Paolo Groppo, an agronomist and FAO and OECD expert on agrarian reform, family farming, territorial development, and conflicts related to natural resources.

Groppo, co-author of "Whose Earth Is It?" for Meltemi, initially conceived this index for a limited audience: groups, associations, and/or movements that publicly express positions in favor of equality between women and men. But after a round of consultations with several feminists, including Laura Cima and the group of ecofeminists associated with her, the index's relevance began to grow.

What are we talking about? The DEI is an indicator that will highlight the coherence between discourse, words, and concrete actions undertaken within collective realities that wish to use it to stimulate a process of change toward true equality. Groppo argues: "In order to find its real and shared value, it is essential that the partners we work with are involved and take a leading role in its construction and subsequent monitoring, so that the DEI becomes 'their thing' and demonstrates how its value improves over time. In fact, the DEI will serve, initially (T°), to highlight the real balance of power within couples/families and, consequently, what and how much effort is needed to align public discourse with concrete internal practices. The purpose of the initial dialogue and negotiation will be to increase explicit awareness of how many activities are necessary to keep a couple/family afloat, so that the personal will of the less involved partners increases."

The conceptual framework Groppo proposes is organized around three perimeters: a narrow one, which contains the "core" activities of housework; an intermediate one, so that to the first list are added those we are more likely to do purely for pleasure and therefore last longer than strictly necessary. And finally, an expanded one: to the first two are added travel times, car trips, and, for example, walking the dog.

To this basic framework, we add mental load; for each perimeter, initial dimensions (thematic areas) will be proposed, followed by specific variables (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.).

“As regards the weight of the different activities – continues Groppo explaining the DEI – we have chosen to give them all the same weight, without distinguishing between more or less expensive, more or less tiring, more or less time-consuming activities. Starting from an indicative list that will be completed through an initial negotiation between the parties, we obtain a total of X activities, to which a value of -1 is attributed if they are carried out only by partner A; -0.5 if they are carried out mainly by partner A; 0 if they are carried out in a balanced manner by the two partners A and B; +0.5 if they are carried out mainly by partner B; +1 if they are carried out only by partner B. For the interviews, we will use a statistically representative sample of the population under study. 

In a society that has given a key role to indices, it seems to us that supporting the lobbying work from below, with men and women, for a real sharing of time within the domestic sphere, so that the man assumes his share of responsibility and frees up women's time, for any other use, is an interesting proposal to discuss.

Anyone interested in learning more about this topic and adopting the index in their group, association, party, or family can contact Groppo at paologroppo60@gmail.com