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Kenyan men spend least time on unpaid care work in East Africa
Kenya’s disparity stands out, making it one of the widest gender divides in unpaid care work in the region and reinforcing structural constraints on women’s participation in the formal economy.
Kenyan men spend just 52 minutes a day on unpaid care work compared to women’s 269 minutes, placing the country among the most unequal in East Africa.
Unpaid care work refers to the daily labour that keeps households, families and communities running. It includes raising children, caring for older or sick relatives and supporting a person with disabilities, as well as cleaning, cooking, washing and collecting water or fuel, according to UN Women.
Unpaid care work also extends beyond the home and includes voluntary community care, such as running community kitchens, neighbourhood childcare groups, and informal support networks.
Data from the World Bank captured in a new report by the Mastercard Foundation shows that men in Uganda spent 108 minutes per day on unpaid care work compared to 210 minutes per day for women.
Tanzanian men spent an hour (61 minutes) on care work, while women in the country spent 278 minutes in a given day. Men in Ethiopia spent 95 minutes per day on unpaid care work, while women spent 278 minutes per day.
“There is a strong gender bias within care work, largely due to cultural and societal norms, with men typically spending relatively little time engaging in unpaid care work…,” Mastercard Foundation said in its report.
“World Bank (2025) data for 13 African countries between 2005 and 2021 show that women allocate between 210 and 322 minutes per day to unpaid care, compared with between 35 and 108 minutes for men.”
Kenya’s disparity stands out, making it one of the widest gender divides in unpaid care work in the region and reinforcing structural constraints on women’s participation in the formal economy.
The contribution of Kenyan men in childcare, eldercare, cooking and cleaning work has been ranked among the lowest in East Africa, due to systemic barriers rooted in social norms and limited access to education and skills development.
“At the same time, there is often strong gender segregation in terms of the types of care work that men and women do, with the gender gap in direct care typically larger than that in indirect care,” added Mastercard Foundation.
Egyptian men spent just 35 minutes per day on care compared to women’s 322 minutes, a staggering 9.2 to 1 ratio.
Tunisia (8.1 ratio) and Morocco (7.0 ratio) are similarly extreme, with women spending 7 to 8 times more than men on daily care tasks.
Countries like Uganda (1.9 ratio) and South Africa (2.4 ratio) have much narrower gaps, with men taking on a greater share of unpaid work.
According to a 2025 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics report, each Kenyan woman's unpaid work is valued at Sh118,845 per year.
