Counting on Women’s Work Without Counting Women’s Work: Women’s unpaid work in Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt

Overview

In the MENA region, care is considered the main responsibility of women, and prioritized over their participation in the labour market. This report is based on an extensive review of existing literature on paid labour, gender-based division of household tasks, unpaid non-economic labour and economic labour, as well as the different contexts within which these concepts intertwine.

Case studies review existing data and information on women’s unpaid work in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia at the level of regulatory frameworks, socio-cultural norms and socio-economic contexts in the countries. The report examines a possible framework for responding to unpaid work and suggests further research questions that could help governments, policy makers and programme designers in addressing unpaid care.