A new report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has exposed the scale of gender inequality embedded in how time is spent across Nigerian households.
The report reveals that women devote five times more hours than men to unpaid domestic and care work, a burden analysts say is constraining economic growth and distorting national income figures.
Titled ‘2024 Nigeria Time Use Survey (NTUS)’, it provides one of the clearest pictures of Nigeria’s “invisible economy”.
It shows that a vast amount of unpaid household labour is performed largely by women but excluded from national income calculations and often overlooked in policymaking.
A review by Pinnacle Daily shows that the survey aims to systematically measure how people allocate their time across paid work, unpaid domestic and care responsibilities, personal care, leisure, and social activities to generate evidence for gender-responsive policy and development planning.
It also seeks to quantify total workloads, capture non-market and volunteer activities, produce disaggregated data for inclusive policymaking, and support the development of household satellite accounts in line with Nigeria’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Indicator 5.4.1 on valuing unpaid care work.
Pinnacle Daily reports that the indicator measures the proportion of time — usually within a 24-hour day — spent on unpaid domestic and care work such as cleaning, cooking, and childcare, disaggregated by sex, age, and location.
It serves as a key metric for assessing gender inequality and guiding policy decisions on public services, infrastructure, and social protection.
Women bear the heaviest burden
The most striking finding of the survey is the disproportionate share of unpaid domestic and caregiving responsibilities carried by women.
According to the report, women spend an average of 21 per cent of their day, about five hours, on unpaid domestic and care work. Men devote just 4.1 per cent of their day, roughly one hour, to similar tasks.
READ ALSO:
- CAPPA Pushes for Accountability as Nigeria Commissions PCB Facility
- Nigeria’s Inflation to Peak at 16.73% in January – Report
- Banks Keep Loans in Check Amid CBN’s 50% Deposit Rule
- BoI Expands Ethical Finance Reach with CBN Approval for Non-Interest Banking
On average, women dedicate five times more time to unpaid responsibilities than men, maintaining that this imbalance cuts across geography and income levels.
It shows that, whether in urban or rural communities and across all wealth quintiles, women consistently shoulder the majority of cooking, cleaning, and caregiving for children, the elderly, and other dependents.
The survey describes the pattern as deeply entrenched and persistent.
Invisible economy, its consequences
Beyond highlighting gender disparities, the report raises concerns about how unpaid work is treated within Nigeria’s economic framework.
It stressed that unpaid household service work is traditionally excluded from national accounts and labour statistics, leading to what it describes as a distorted picture of the economy.
“The conventional system of national accounts and labour statistics is designed to measure the market economy, with the exclusion of unpaid household service work.
“This leads to an underestimation of the national income and results in biases in various areas of economic analysis,” it stated.
Because official statistics focus primarily on market-based production, they omit a substantial portion of housework — most of which is performed by women.
The report notes that this exclusion not only understates national income but also limits policy recognition of unpaid care work.
By generating time-use data, the survey aims to support the implementation of the 5R Framework for Decent Care Work, which calls for the recognition, reduction, and redistribution of unpaid care responsibilities.
Paid work, education and structural barriers
According to the report, the unequal distribution of unpaid labour has direct implications for women’s participation in paid employment and education.
It shows that men spend significantly more time on System of National Accounts (SNA) productive activities, essentially market-based or paid work, averaging 6.2 hours per day, compared to 3.9 hours for women.
Participation in learning activities also reflects a gap, stating that 15.2 per cent of men engage in learning-related activities, compared to 10.5 per cent of women.
The report identifies the heavy burden of unpaid work as a primary constraint limiting women’s ability to pursue paid employment, education, and personal development.
READ ALSO:
- Obi Leads Protest at National Assembly Over Rejection of Real-time Election Result Transmission
- Naira Remains Stable Against Dollar as FX Market Opens Second Week of February
- Center Warns Against Premature Export Restrictions on Raw Materials
- Ecobank Posts 30% Profit Growth as Assets Near ₦50trn
It noted that in households with 10 or more members, women’s participation in paid work drops sharply as caregiving demands increase.
While 81 per cent of female-headed households are urban, larger households with multiple dependents are predominantly rural, accounting for 53.3 per cent. In rural areas, women often combine subsistence agriculture with domestic chores.
It adds that limited access to clean water, electricity, and modern cooking fuel also increases the time required for daily domestic tasks, particularly in underserved communities.
Data limitations
According to the NBS, the survey was conducted in four states, Borno, Cross River, Kaduna, and Lagos, limiting the ability to generalise findings to the entire country.
“In recognition of this need, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with the support of UN Women, undertook the Nigeria Time Use Survey (NTUS) 2024. Conducted in four states—Borno, Cross River, Kaduna, and Lagos—the survey marks Nigeria’s first stand-alone effort to capture daily patterns of time use.
“While not nationally representative, it provides important insights into the realities of everyday life across diverse socio-economic and cultural contexts,” it stated.
The report hinted at difficulties faced in capturing “secondary activities”, such as caring for a child while cooking, which may have led to an underestimation of women’s total care burden.
It noted that security challenges and respondent refusals further complicated fieldwork.
From evidence to reform
After exposing what it describes as a structural imbalance in the economy, the report outlines policy reforms, infrastructure investments, and statistical upgrades aimed at reducing gender inequality and giving visibility to unpaid work.
Central to its recommendations is alignment with the International Labour Organisation’s 5R Framework for Decent Care Work — recognising unpaid care work, reducing its burden through infrastructure and technology, redistributing responsibilities between men and women and between households and the state, rewarding paid care workers with decent employment, and ensuring representation and collective bargaining rights.
The survey calls for the development of a national policy framework to formally recognise unpaid domestic and care work, alongside labour policies that support the integration of unpaid carers — primarily women — into the formal workforce.
It also recommends targeted interventions to ease time constraints, expand women’s access to productive assets, and correct institutional barriers that sustain gender gaps.
One of its most far-reaching proposals is the integration of unpaid household work into Nigeria’s extended satellite accounts, enabling the National Accounts system to measure household production alongside paid economic activities.
To ensure continuity, the report recommends institutionalising Time Use Surveys within Nigeria’s National Statistical System and establishing a dedicated budget line for regular data collection.
It also emphasises investment in care infrastructure — including access to water, electricity, modern cooking fuel, public care services, and social protection programmes — to reduce the time women spend on daily domestic maintenance and free them for education and paid employment.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X
