First national Time Use Survey exposes deep gender gap in household labour, urges reforms and investment in care infrastructure….
Women in Nigeria spend about 21 per cent of their day, nearly five hours, on unpaid domestic and care work, compared to just 4.1 per cent, or roughly one hour, spent by men, according to the Nigeria Time Use Survey (NTUS) 2024 released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The survey, Nigeria’s first stand-alone national study examining how individuals allocate time across paid employment, unpaid care, personal activities and leisure, reveals a persistent and wide gender gap in household responsibilities across both rural and urban areas.
Overall, Nigerians aged 15 years and above spend an average of 12.5 per cent of their day, about three hours, on unpaid domestic and care work. However, the responsibility falls disproportionately on women.
In rural communities, women spend 24.1 per cent of their day, close to six hours, on unpaid care and domestic work, compared to 3.7 per cent recorded for rural men. In urban areas, women devote 19.8 per cent of their time to these activities, while men spend 4.3 per cent.
According to the NBS, women allocate 15.1 per cent of their day to unpaid domestic services and 5.9 per cent to unpaid care services, far exceeding the time spent by men, who devote 2.9 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively. Across the surveyed states, women spend about five times more hours than men on unpaid domestic and care responsibilities.
In contrast, men spend significantly more time in System of National Accounts (SNA) productive activities, averaging 372.6 minutes daily compared to women’s 234 minutes. Women, however, account for a much larger share of time spent on non-SNA activities.
The Bureau said the findings reflect deeply entrenched gender roles and highlight the need for targeted investment in care infrastructure, as well as policy reforms aimed at redistributing unpaid work, in line with Nigeria’s commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality.
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