The Telling Nature of Time: What time-use reveals about gender equality in Afghanistan

A time-use survey has not previously been conducted in Afghanistan. As a result, there are data gaps on the contribution to human well-being by Afghan women through their unpaid cooking, cleaning and caring for family as well as their contribution to family businesses. Their work is statistically unrecognized despite the large amounts of women’s time that it consumes, and the restrictions it places on women’s ability to engage in other activities.

UN Women Afghanistan undertook an exploratory study of time use for which fieldwork was conducted in late 2018-early 2019. The study sets a strong foundation for an official time use survey to be conducted in Afghanistan that can inform development and implementation of policies that address gender and other economic and social inequalities.