WORK

Whether they are working in industrialized nations or developing countries, in rural or urban settings, women generally work more hours than do men. According to Oxfam, women average around 60 to 90 working hours per week, and time-use surveys demonstrate that in many developing countries, the number of hours women work exceeds those of men by a wide margin.

In many developing countries women are responsible for agricultural production and market work as well as unpaid non-market work, which ranges from caring for children, the sick and the elderly to domestic chores and food production for families. At least half of women's total work time is spent on these unpaid duties. In rural Nepal, for example, men spend 8 hours each day on market work and only 2 hours on home production whereas women spend 7.4 hours on market work and 5 hours on home production. Additionally, women overlap many of their activities, like watching children while working in the home or in the fields. In industrialized nations, the division of household labor follows a similar pattern, although gender differences in the overall work pattern are less severe than in developing countries.

Read the WOW! issue briefs "Valuing Women's Work," "A Disappointing Harvest for Rural Women" and "Climate Change and the World's Poor."