Taiwanese women spent more than three hours per day on average providing unpaid care in 2024, only slightly less than five years before, with married and partnered women doing more housework than others, Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) data showed.
Taiwanese society has been increasingly aware of gender equality, with these concepts taking root from a young age and hopefully influencing society from the bottom up, the ministry said.
However, traditional division of labor within families remains, with women providing more care for family members and doing more housework, it added.
Photo: CNA
Following international standards, the ministry defined this type of work as “unpaid care” in its 2024 survey of women aged 15 to 64.
Women spent an average of three hours and two minutes a day providing unpaid care, with an average of one hour and 31 minutes spent doing housework, one hour and 29 minutes spent caring for family members, neighbors or friends, and three minutes spent doing other chores, the survey showed.
This is only nine minutes less than the average time women spent providing daily unpaid care in 2019, the ministry said.
Women who are married or living with a partner spent the longest time providing unpaid care, an average of four hours and 25 minutes daily, with their spouses or partners only providing an average of 15 more minutes of daily unpaid care compared with five years before, the data showed.
Married and partnered women spend 2.6 times more time on unpaid care than their spouses or partners, primarily on childcare and housework.
Women spend the most time on housework, with the 86.5 percent of women who need to do such work spending an average of one hour and 45 minutes per day on it.
The 93.9 percent of married and partnered women who need to do housework spend an average of two hours and eight minutes per day on it.
In addition, 39.4 percent of these women believe the best way to encourage their partners to do more housework is to eliminate traditional gender roles and stereotypes, the ministry said.
With generational change, women would continue to spend less time providing unpaid care, Social and Family Affairs Administration Acting Director Chou Tao-chun (周道君) said.
For a long time, society has generally expected a more equitable distribution of household responsibilities, with men sharing more of the burden, Chou said.
The younger generation’s views in this regard are trending toward equality, but there is still room for improvement, he said.
The ministry would continue to promote gender equality in families and advocate for women through International Women’s Day, Girl’s Day and school events, Chou said.
For example, it would continue partnering with theater troupes to bring plays about familial gender roles to schools, encouraging young people to think about gender issues, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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