EmpowerHER

As moms, we know all too well the kind of work that never ends. Waking up early to prepare meals, ensuring the kids are okay, doing laundry, cleaning the house, caring for elderly parents, and managing the family’s needs, often all at once. It’s work that’s usually unseen, unpaid, and unacknowledged, but it’s the kind of labor that keeps households and communities running.

That’s precisely what the EmpowerHER campaign wants to talk about.

EmpowerHER campaign

Launched by Oxfam Pilipinas, the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia, and OCI Group, EmpowerHER highlights the value of unpaid care work; the kind of work we moms are all too familiar with. Through the campaign’s Asenso Squad Facebook community, moms and women entrepreneurs are encouraged to share their experiences balancing care work, breadwinning, and building a better life for their families.

The heart of the message is simple: care work should be shared. When everyone in the family—husbands, children, even extended relatives—takes part in household responsibilities, women have more freedom to pursue work, grow businesses, and invest in themselves.

“When household members share the responsibility of care work equally, it doesn’t just ease the burden on women—it builds stronger, more resilient households,” shares Lot Felizco, Executive Director of Oxfam Pilipinas.

Care work is not solely a woman’s duty

And it’s not just about helping moms “have it all”; it’s about changing a system that quietly limits the dreams and potential of millions of women in the country. The numbers show that women in the Philippines do more hours of care work than men, three times more. That extra labor leaves less time and energy for women to work outside the home, start a business, or rest and recharge.

The EmpowerHER campaign launched with an online forum titled “Family or Career, Why Not Both?” is a powerful reminder that being a good mom and having a fulfilling career or business life don’t have to be opposites. It’s time to challenge the old belief that care work is solely a woman’s duty and encourage shared responsibility within the household.

The campaign also brings attention to how these patterns affect our daughters. Studies show that girls, even at a young age, spend more time on housework than boys. If we don’t discuss this now, we risk passing the same imbalances to the next generation.

Join the movement

If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything and still being asked to do more, know you’re not alone. The Asenso Squad Facebook group is a space for moms to connect, share, and learn from each other’s journeys in balancing work, life, and everything in between.

Let’s normalize conversations about shared care work. Let’s lift each other. And let’s raise our children with a better understanding of respect, equality, and love.

Join the Asenso Squad on Facebook and be part of a community that believes in success at home and in life. Because moms deserve support, recognition, and the freedom to grow.