In the Fijian population, females did 73 per cent of the unpaid household work, compared with 27 per cent by males.
This, according to a research report titled “Beyond 33 per cent: The Economic Empowerment of Fiji Women and Girls” that was launched in Suva on Wednesday (February 1, 2023) by the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM).
“The largest share (46 per cent) of the unpaid household work was done by the paid labour force (females 25 per cent and males 20 per cent) with full-time domestic workers, commonly known as ‘housewives’ doing 39 per cent,” the report stated.
“Students did a significant 11 per cent of unpaid household work, 7 per cent by female students and 4 per cent by male students.”
The report also stated for students, the gender gaps began right from the earliest years in primary and the gaps continued to grow through secondary and tertiary ages.
“Females in the labour force generally did more unpaid household work per week (29 hours) than males (12 hours per week).
“The gap was 14 hours per week for wage and salary earners and employers, while it was an extremely large 23 hours per week for ‘others’ who are more in the informal sector such as family workers, self-employed and subsistence.
“Employees, employers and self-employed clearly have the highest work burdens with females working on average 64 hours per week or 13 hours per week more than the corresponding males.”
The report added females were still doing the bulk of the unpaid household work in the labour force.
