Girls aged between 5 and 14 years spend 40 per cent more time on household chores compared to boys of the same age, finds a new report released by UNICEF ahead of International Day of the Girl on Tuesday.
The report, Harness the Power of Data for Girls: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead to 2030, highlights that girls spend 160 million more hours per day on unpaid household chores such as cooking, cleaning, looking after family members, as well as collecting water and firewood.
The differences begin early – girls aged between 5 and 9 spend 40 million more hours a day on household chores than boys of the same age. And it only increases as girls gets older.
"The overburden of unpaid household work begins in early childhood and intensifies as girls reach adolescence," UNICEF's Principal Gender Advisor Anju Malhotra said in a statement. "As a result, girls sacrifice important opportunities to learn, grow, and just enjoy their childhood.
"This unequal distribution of labour among children also perpetuates gender stereotypes and the double-burden on women and girls across generations."
The burden of unpaid household work starts at an early age for girls and gets worse as they get older #dayofthegirl pic.twitter.com/BHNNcYGmCg
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) October 9, 2016
The data also indicates:
- in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, girls aged 5-14 years spend nearly double the amount of time on household chores compared to boys of the same age.
- girls in Somalia aged 10 -14 spend the most amount of time on household chores (26 hours per week).
The report notes that caring for other children or family members who are sick or elderly places adult responsibilities on young girls while they're still children themselves. In addition, some chores – for example those requiring travel to and from their homes – can place girls at risk of violence.
Given household chores are typically not valued in the same way other income-generating activities are, UNICEF states that consequently, girls' contributions are seen as less visible and less valuable. And this can have a lasting impact on their self-esteem and self-worth.
"Quantifying the challenges girls face is the first critical step towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality and breaking down barriers that confront the world's 1.1 billion girls," said UNICEF chief of data and analytics, Attila Hancioglu.
The report argues that disparities in the burden of household chores and negative gender patterns need to be addressed "before they become cemented in adulthood."
The authors write: "Supporting girls to stay in school and be involved in sports, play and other leisure and asset building activities – and investing in infrastructure, technology and childcare to ease uneven burdens,"– can help put girls on the path to empowerment and the world on course to greater gender equality."