| Code | SG.TIM.UWRK.FE |
| Indicator Name | Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, female (% of 24 hour day) |
| Short definition | The average time women spend on household provision of services for own consumption. Data are expressed as a proportion of time in a day. Domestic and care work includes food preparation, dishwashing, cleaning and upkeep of a dwelling, laundry, ironing, gardening, caring for pets, shopping, installation, servicing and repair of personal and household goods, childcare, and care of the sick, elderly or disabled household members, among others. |
| Long definition | The average time women spend on household provision of services for own consumption. Data are expressed as a proportion of time in a day. Domestic and care work includes food preparation, dishwashing, cleaning and upkeep of a dwelling, laundry, ironing, gardening, caring for pets, shopping, installation, servicing and repair of personal and household goods, childcare, and care of the sick, elderly or disabled household members, among others. |
| Source | National statistical offices or national database and publications, United Nations (UN), uri: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/database, note: Indicator code from the original source: SH_FPL_INFM; Indicator name from the original source: Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic chores and care work, by sex, age and location (%), publisher: UN Statistics Division, type: Excel |
| Topic | Gender: Participation & access |
| Dataset | WDI |
| Unit of measure | % of a 24 hour day |
| Periodicity | Annual |
| Reference period | 2000-2023 |
| Statistical concept and methodology | Methodology: The proportion of time allocated to unpaid domestic and caregiving tasks is determined by dividing the daily average time spent on such activities by the total number of hours in a day (24 hours). The data for this indicator are presented as a daily time proportion. For instance, if women ages 15+ dedicate 10% of their day to unpaid domestic and caregiving work, while men of the same age bracket allocate 1%, this translates to women spending an average of 2.4 hours (or 2 hours and 24 minutes) and men spending 14.4 minutes per day on these tasks.
To ascertain the daily average, weekly data are averaged across all seven days.
Statistical concept(s): This indicator measures the average amount of on unpaid domestic and care work as a proportion in a day. The objective of this indicator is to quantify the time allocation of both women and men to unpaid tasks, thereby recognizing the value of all forms of work, irrespective of monetary compensation. Furthermore, it serves as a gauge for gender equality by revealing the disparity in time spent by women and men on unpaid activities, such as household chores, caregiving, and childcare.
The daily average is derived from a mean calculated over the data collection reference period, which does not imply that individuals allocate the specified amounts of time to these activities every day. |
| Development relevance | Women often spend disproportionately more time on unpaid domestic and care work than men. This unequal division of responsibilities is correlated with gender differences in economic opportunities, includign low female labor force participation, occupational sex segregation, and earnings diffrentials. The need for a gender balance in the distribution of unpaid domestic and care work has been increasingly recognized and the Sustainable Development Goals address the issue in the target 5.4. |
| Limitations and exceptions | Data may not be strictly comparable across countries as the methods and sampling involved for data collection may differ. |
| Other notes | This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 5.4.1[https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/]. |
| License URL | https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/public-licenses#cc-by |
| License Type | CC BY-4.0 |
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