Cape Verde Unpaid Work Crisis: Women Face Double the Burden
Nearly 85% of Cape Verde’s population aged 15 and older engaged in unpaid work in 2025, according to new data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). While the practice is widespread, the figures reveal a stark “time poverty” gap between genders, with women bearing the brunt of domestic responsibilities.
A Deepening Gender Divide
The INE report highlights that 317,916 people performed unpaid labor last year, but the participation rates were far from equal. Roughly 93.0% of women reported performing unpaid tasks, compared to 76.7% of men—a gap of 16.3 percentage points.
The disparity becomes even more pronounced when measuring time. Women in Cape Verde dedicated an average of 19 hours per week to unpaid activities, nearly double the 10 hours contributed by men.
Domestic Chores and Caregiving Take Center Stage
Unpaid work, as defined by the INE, includes household chores, caregiving for dependents, volunteer work, and production for personal consumption. Of these, domestic chores were the most common, involving 303,160 people (80.9% of the population).
Caregiving for household members, such as children or the elderly, also showed a significant gender imbalance. Approximately 45.6% of women provided these services, while only 22.2% of men did the same. In total, 126,998 people were involved in caregiving duties.
Volunteering and Subsistence Production
While domestic work dominated the landscape, other forms of unpaid labor were also accounted for:
- Production for Own Consumption: Approximately 55,784 people (14.9%) produced goods for their own use, a practice notably more common in rural regions.
- Volunteer Work: Community service and volunteering played a smaller role, involving 13,026 people, or roughly 3.5% of the population.
The INE’s findings underscore the critical role that unpaid labor plays in Cape Verde’s social fabric, while simultaneously highlighting the disproportionate physical and temporal burden placed on the nation’s women.
Image: Pexels – Gabriel Frank
