What are young people’s experiences of unpaid care work? 

Sensitisation to patriarchal norms begins in children’s very earliest years, with girls being prepared for ‘mother work’ from the age of five (Crivello, 2019). By adolescence, gendered roles are often deeply entrenched, with rural girls tasked with fetching water and gathering firewood, and rural boys caring for livestock and ruminants (Heissler & Porter, 2013). Although all children and adolescents in Ethiopia play a central role in household economies – often contributing significant amounts of time to work within the home – it is girls, and particularly older girls, who carry the bulk of these burdens (Heissler & Porter, 2013).

Gender norms influence not only the amount of work allocated, but the nature of the tasks. Mothers, fathers and other adults tend to divide and allocate household tasks for children by sex and birth order. The number of siblings in the household, the health and composition of the household, and the contributions of other household members also influence the division of household chores (Heissler & Porter, 2013). When households are particularly poor, stressed or vulnerable, girls may be pulled out of school to help with domestic work and mothers may be forced to work outside the home, creating additional burdens for children and adolescents (Desta, 2019). Having sick family members can increase children’s domestic workload burdens, but having a father that shares chores – or other siblings – can reduce them. 

As they reach puberty, the emerging sexuality of girls becomes prized, feared and closely controlled. The mobility of adolescent girls is heavily restricted due to fears of sexual assault and rape, and girls are further  at risk of early marriage and   en pregnancy. At this juncture, girls may choose to marry to escape their birth family, or assume a life they hope will be more independent (Berhanu et al., 2019). Marriage is often seen as a way to gain independence and social status but research shows that by the age of 19, young married women spend up to eight hours a day on unpaid work and care (Chuta and Morrow, 2015) reflecting the naturalisation of rigid gender norms that designate men as ‘breadwinners’ and women as ‘homemakers’ and carers. 

Young people in Ethiopia are often torn between tradition and modern values, and these conflicting pulls can make them uncertain about the right life choice and path. Jobs, especially good jobs, are difficult for most young people to find, and present particular challenges for young women, who by the age of 22 are less likely to be in paid work, and – if they have found employment – likely to be paid less than men (Briones and Porter, 2019).  Young rural people at this age may also migrate to the cities, with young women having the option of working as domestic staff in the day and completing their secondary school education in the ‘better schools’ of the city in the evening. These hopes for a better life are often illusory, with exploitation common and the ‘better’ city education frequently found worthless (Chuta & Morrow, 2015).

Women often become mothers in Ethiopia at a young age, usually around the age of 22 (Pankhurst, 2020). Crivello (2019) found that the timing and social significance of marriage and motherhood are changing, and the younger generation of girls are spending longer in school and delaying their transitions to adulthood. These developments mark a changing gender script for young women, mapping a new normative trajectory, with schooling followed by employment, followed by marriage and motherhood. 

A study by Crivello et al. (2019)  found that although young women in theory have more options and paths towards adulthood (i.e. marriage, migration, motherhood or work), in reality their ability to make independent decisions is constrained and heavily shaped by social, cultural and religious norms.  Choices and decisions about their future are likely to be made at a collective level; as individuals, women have little agency or decision-making power at this powerful and critical junction of their life (Berhane et al., 2019). Despite this bleak picture, older women believe things have changed since their days, and that girls and young women now have more autonomy than they had: “During our age, the parents simply gave their daughters to husbands in their early childhood but now everything depends on the choices of the girls.”  

The status quo in Ethiopia associates men with income earning and women with domestic chores. But these traditional patriarchal roles  are changing in some areas. Whilst some men now recognise their need to do more child rearing and domestic work, at least within the home, further change can be engendered by men advocating publically for the redistribution of unpaid care work, and role modelling new behaviours such as investing equally in daughters as in sons. 

Key points

• In Ethiopian societies, men and women play distinct roles, determined by patriarchy. 
• Domestic tasks  are considered the primary responsibility of girls and women.
• Girls and boys are sensitised to gendered roles from the earliest age, with girls being prepared for  ‘motherwork’  from around the age of five. 
• Most children work for the family (on the farm or business), in addition to attending school. 
• Girls spend longer on household chores than boys throughout their childhoods and adolescence 
• Older children, especially girls,  have particularly heavy workloads and risk missing or dropping out of school.
• Heavy domestic burdens give young women less access training and paid employment opportunities.
• Marriage and motherhood are considered essential steps to full adult status.
• Limited opportunities (together with familiar/societal pressures)  may lead rural girls and adolescents to marry early or migrate to the cities.
• Women are underrepresented in professional, political, leadership and decision-making roles.
• They are also less likely to  take part in  community, social and political life.
• Negative gender norms, customs, creeds, systems, structures, policies and laws continue to perpetuate women’s subordination and hinder their empowerment.

Conclusion

Unpaid care work is critical to the health and well-being of individuals, households and communities, as well as the economic wealth of nations. Changes in how care work is valued, allocated, and shared between men and women is necessary if we are to unleash women’s full potential, including their economic and political contributions.

Traditional gendered divisions of labour within Ethiopia push women into unpaid domestic activities (taking care of the family, fetching water, gathering firewood, preparing food etc.). This work is often unpaid, undervalued, time-consuming and restrictive, and prevents women taking advantage of other life opportunities.  It is also the main barrier to their economic empowerment, since it prevents women from getting into, remaining and progressing in the labour force.

Unpaid care work is one of the key drivers of gender inequality in Ethiopia. The more time girls and women spend on unpaid care work, the less time they have for education, paid work, self-care, rest, leisure, and community/ political engagement. Acknowledging the unequal burden of unpaid care work is not enough to rebalance it or improve women’s lives. Concrete action is needed in terms of redistribution. For until boys and men – and above all husbands and male relatives – equally shoulder this burden, women’s rights will not be achieved (Hernando, 2022).