A report released by UNICEF ahead of International Day of the Girl on 11 October, says girls between 5 and 14 years old spend 40 per cent more time, or 160 million more hours a day, on unpaid household chores and collecting water and firewood compared to boys their age.

The report also found that:

§ Girls between 10 and 14 years old in South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa spend nearly double the amount of time on household chores compared to boys.

§ The countries where girls between 10 and 14 years old bear the most disproportionate burden of household chores compared to boys are: Burkina Faso, Yemen and Somalia.

§ 10 to 14 year-old girls in Somalia spend the most amount of time on household chores in total: 26 hours every week.

“The overburden of unpaid household work begins in early childhood and intensifies as girls reach adolescence,” said UNICEF’s Principal Gender Advisor Anju Malhotra.  “As a result, girls sacrifice important opportunities to learn, grow, and just enjoy their childhood. This unequal distribution of labour among children also perpetuates gender stereotypes and the double-burden on women and girls across generations.”