The Invisible Economy: Kenya's Care Policy to value women's unseen labour

Every day, across the globe, women shoulder the burden of unpaid labour care work that sustains families and communities yet receives no compensation.

In Kenya, where women disproportionately bear this responsibility, gender experts are calling for transformative change through the implementation of a National Care Policy.

Speaking during a UN Women media briefing in Nairobi, gender and economic empowerment specialists highlighted the urgency of addressing what has become a national economic and social justice issue.

The National Care Policy (NCP), currently awaiting cabinet approval, represents Africa's first comprehensive framework  to recognise, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work while rewarding caregivers and representing their rights.

“The burden of unpaid care work creates a vicious cycle that limits women's economic participation and perpetuates inequality. Women who spend hours daily on domestic and care responsibilities have limited time to build their capacities, develop skill sets, pursue education, or engage in income-generating activities,” said Elizabeth Obanda, who leads UN Women Kenya Country Office's work on women's economic empowerment.

Globally, women do about 76 per cent of all unpaid care work, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), spending more than three times as much time on unpaid care tasks compared to men. In Kenya, the situation is even more pronounced.

According to the Kenya Time Use Survey conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) in 2021, women spend approximately four to five hours per day on unpaid care and domestic work, while men average only about one hour.

"Women per day are spending up to about five hours on unpaid care work, this unpaid and domestic care work. It is important work, and this work definitely has to happen," said Chryspin Afifu, Gender and Women's Economic Empowerment and Advocacy Specialist at the International Center for Research on Women.

"Most of us today, we actually do what we are able to do because someone is handling an element of care that we could have handled."

This gap prevents many women from entering the workforce and gaining financial independence. Kenya's ranking of 75th out of 146 countries in the World Bank's Global Gender Gap Report 2024 shows there's still much work to be done.

Women make up a significant portion of the workforce, yet they remain underrepresented in leadership roles and are often paid less than men.

The survey revealed particularly stark disparities in counties such as those in the Northern Frontier District, where women spend even more time fetching water, collecting firewood, sourcing food, and going to market all tasks necessary for family survival but which trap women in what experts call "time poverty."

"They are experiencing what we call time poverty. They are unable to fend for themselves. They are unable to do other productive activities. They're also unable, really, to engage, even to rest, and even recuperate themselves," Afifu noted.

This disparity exists despite women being increasingly educated and participating in the workforce.

The modern economy doesn't distinguish between men and women in terms of productivity expectations yet women continue to carry a disproportionate care burden at home.

Perhaps most striking is the economic dimension of this invisible labour. The 2021 survey found that unpaid care work contributes approximately 7.6 per cent to Kenya's GDP a significant portion of national wealth that goes unrecognised and unrewarded.

"That unpaid care does not find itself in the GDP, the way that we calculate our GDP," explained Elizabeth Obanda, who leads UN Women Kenya Country Office's work on women's economic empowerment.

"It's important for the government of Kenya and the people of Kenya to recognise that there's an issue around care and the way we provide it and the way we value it."

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Care Needs Assessment revealed that approximately 19 million Kenyans especially children up to 13 years and older persons 65 years and above require care. This includes care for children, persons with disabilities, and those with long-term ill health.

The National Care Policy has been developed through an extensive consultative process, incorporating evidence from the Time Use Survey, the National Care Needs Assessment, and aligning with Kenya's Vision 2030, the Medium Term Plan 4 (MTP4), and the current government's bottom-up economic development agenda.

It also fulfills Kenya's obligations under the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 5.4, which requires countries to measure unpaid care work by sex, gender, and location.

The policy is built on what experts call the "five Rs": recognise, reduce, redistribute, reward, and represent.

It calls for government investment in care infrastructure including water access, electricity, schools, and health facilities that can reduce the time women spend on unpaid care work.

"Care infrastructure then becomes what we actually need for ourselves. Everyone needs care," Afifu emphasized, noting that Kenya's aging population 9.8 per cent of Kenyans are elderly—will only increase the demand for care services.

One innovative aspect of the policy is its focus on supporting caregivers themselves. Currently, social protection mechanisms such as cash transfers focus on recipients of care the elderly or persons with disabilities but not on those providing the care.

"When the government is sending out money for the older person, or a PWD, then the one who's providing care also needs to be taken care of, because that is their work," Afifu said.

"Some people need 24-hour care, so you cannot do anything else other than caring for that person."

UN Women, working with the State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, has brought together academia, research institutes, the private sector, government, and development institutions to develop the policy.

In pilot counties, they have already begun engaging with governors and finance managers to integrate care considerations into county budgets.

Obanda expressed confidence in the policy's prospects, noting that government leadership in its development signals commitment to implementation.

"Because government is taking lead, we are confident that if government approves this policy, that the government itself will embrace policies that would reduce women's time poverty, including issues to do with maternity leave."

The policy could drive concrete changes including extended maternity and paternity leave, establishment of early childhood development facilities, support for families caring for children with disabilities or relatives with long-term illnesses, and investment in care infrastructure that reduces women's domestic workload.

Despite growing momentum, challenges remain. Obanda acknowledges that some people still don't understand why the policy is needed. Beyond this, there's a deeper challenge: men feeling left out and their work unrecognised.

"The thing is that already where we are at, the system is already skewed," Obanda explains.

"Most of the work that the men do is work that finds itself counted to the GDP for sure. When they go out to work, they are paid a salary, it is counted to the GDP."

The critical distinction is that men's labour, whether in formal employment or other economic activities is already recognised, measured, and compensated.

Women's unpaid care work, by contrast, remains invisible despite its essential contribution to society and the economy.

"The point we are making is that there is quite a bit of work that women do that is not counted. So we are just saying let also count this work that they do. Let it also contribute to the GDP," Obanda emphasised. "The facts show, the evidence is there to show that there is a lot of work that women do that is not counted to GDP."

The policy question also has practical implications for government action. "If there is no policy to drive any conversation, then there will be no budget," Obanda noted.

"There has to be a policy because then it is government's acceptance that there is a need for us to have conversations around this particular matter and therefore then if government is going to budget for it, it can be anchored in that policy."