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Unpaid Care Work Inequality and Women’s Employment Outcomes in Senegal

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Women and Sustainable Human Development

Part of the book series: Gender, Development and Social Change ((GDSC))

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Abstract

Women around the world bear a larger share of unpaid care work than men. Such inequality hinders their opportunities in the paid labour market. This chapter explores the determinants of the inequality in unpaid care work that women face within their household. The chapter also examines the effects of unpaid care work inequality on women’s employment outcomes using the Survey of Monitoring Poverty in Senegal, conducted in 2011. The results show that the socio-economic characteristics of women are important determinants of the unpaid care work inequality they face within their household. Such inequality has consequences on women’s employment outcomes. Women facing higher inequality in unpaid care work are less likely to get involved in paid work, to be formally employed and obtain a full-time job. These findings suggest that there is a need for addressing the unequal distribution of unpaid care work between men and women in order to realize the fifth Sustainable Development Goal by 2030.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    To the best of our knowledge, the only study that investigates the effect of unpaid care inequality on women’s employment is Ferrant et al. (2014). Moreover, their study is at the macro level.

  2. 2.

    Economic Gender Equality Indicators (1997). Federal Provincial/Territorial Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women, Canada.

  3. 3.

    Additional information may be provided upon request.

  4. 4.

    Due to space constraints, the table of descriptive statistics is not included in the document. But, more details can be provided upon request.

  5. 5.

    We consider as children those who are aged 10 or less.

  6. 6.

    We mean by polygamous nature of the household whether or not the household head is polygamous or not.

  7. 7.

    Diagnostic sur l’Emploi des Jeunes au Sénégal: Etude réalisée dans le Cadre de L’initiative conjointe pour l’Emploi des Jeunes en Afrique. https://www.onusenegal.org/IMG/pdf/emploi_jeunes_senegal.pdf.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Nations University (UNU-MERIT), Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Racky Baldé

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  1. Racky Baldé
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Correspondence to Racky Baldé .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. United Nations University (UNU-MERIT), Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Maty Konte  & Nyasha Tirivayi  & 

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Baldé, R. (2020). Unpaid Care Work Inequality and Women’s Employment Outcomes in Senegal. In: Konte, M., Tirivayi, N. (eds) Women and Sustainable Human Development. Gender, Development and Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14935-2_13

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