The State Department of Gender is working to establish a policy framework for unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW) in Kenya.
UCDW refers to the unpaid labor performed by individuals, particularly women, to care for family members and manage household chores. This labor is often invisible and undervalued, yet it is essential to the well-being of families and communities.
According to a 2018 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, women in Tanzania spend 3.5 times more minutes per day on UCDW than men. In Rwanda and Uganda, women spend three times and 1.2 times more minutes per day on UCDW, respectively.
A 2019 household care survey conducted by Oxfam in Kenya found similar patterns. The survey, which included 328 women and 42 men from informal settlements in Nairobi, revealed that women spent 11.1 hours per day on care, compared to just 2.9 hours per day for men.
Furthermore, men spent almost double the time that women spent on paid work, highlighting the disproportionate burden of UCDW on women. According to the Gender Gap calculator created by Code for Africa, men in Kenya earn 39% more than women on average, implying that women's pockets are wiped faster than those of men during times of inflation.
On February 8, 2020, UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that there are 127 women for every 100 men aged between 25 and 34 living in extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. He attributed these disparities in poverty to the higher number of women in precarious jobs and the heavier burden of UCDW on their shoulders.
