Situation of unpaid work and gender in the Caribbean

The unpaid care work performed primarily by women, underpins all societies, contributing to well-being, social development and economic growth. Care work involves a variety of domestic tasks, such as the preparation of food, cleaning, washing and ironing of clothes, the collection of water and fuel for cooking, as well as, the care of mostly dependant family members, including children, older persons and persons with disabilities. The time-use survey is the only available tool for measuring unpaid care work and is also a more cost effective method of collecting timely and accurate data on the gender division of labour within households and the interdependence of the paid and unpaid work undertaken by women and men.