Unpaid Care Work Holding Back Women’s Economic Potential – FG

The federal government has called for more investment in Nigeria’s care economy, warning that the disproportionate burden of unpaid care and domestic work on women and girls are limiting their access to education, employment, entrepreneurship, income and leadership opportunities.

The permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Esuabana Nko Asanye, who represented the minister, expressed the concern on Tuesday at the National Care Economy Summit and Development Workshop held in Asokoro, Abuja.

Asanye said millions of women, particularly those in poor and vulnerable households, were often forced to choose between earning an income and caring for children, older persons, persons with disabilities and other family members due to inadequate access to affordable care services.

She said Nigeria could not fully harness women’s productive potential while unequal care responsibilities continued to constrain their participation in the formal and informal economies.

“This is not simply a woman’s issue. It is an issue of economic efficiency, social justice and national development,” the permanent secretary said, stressing the need to move away from treating care as an invisible household responsibility to recognising it as part of the country’s essential economic infrastructure.

According to her, Nigeria’s changing demographics, rapid urbanisation, evolving family structures, and growing demand for childcare, healthcare, disability support, and elderly care necessitate rethinking how care is organised, financed, and delivered.

She noted that investment in the care economy could expand early childhood development services, childcare centres, community- and home-based care, disability support, elderly care, and other professional care services, while creating employment opportunities for women, young people, entrepreneurs, cooperatives, social enterprises, and private-sector providers.

Asanye also called for better data on unpaid care work, noting that although such work is often excluded from national income statistics, it provides significant economic value by enabling other household members to participate in paid employment and other economic activities.

She further urged stronger links between care policies and social protection programmes, saying families should not be pushed into poverty because they have children, older persons, persons with disabilities or relatives requiring intensive care.

She identified child benefits, cash transfers, disability support, maternity protection and other family-support interventions as measures that could help reduce the economic burden of care on vulnerable households.

The Permanent Secretary said the ministry remained committed to strengthening early childhood development and childcare systems, supporting families and caregivers, promoting women’s economic empowerment, improving social protection and advancing decent work and quality care services.

She stressed that building a sustainable care economy required collaboration across government, noting that the sector spans women’s affairs, finance, labour and employment, health, education, social development, housing, infrastructure, agriculture, youth development, and the private sector.

Asanye urged stakeholders at the summit to develop practical recommendations and partnerships that could translate into policies, programmes and investments, saying the care economy should be moved “from the margins of policy to the centre of our national development agenda.”

She said the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development would continue to work with government institutions, development partners, academia, civil society and the private sector to build a care system that is accessible, affordable, inclusive, gender-responsive and centred on human dignity.

Speaking, Director, Child Development, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Ali Andrew Madugu, said Nigeria’s care economy presents a major opportunity to create decent employment, empower women and strengthen the country’s human capital. Madugu said the summit was convened to bring together government institutions, development partners, private-sector organisations, civil society, academia, care workers, families and other stakeholders to address the care economy, which he described as a fundamental but often overlooked pillar of society.

He said the care economy could help Nigeria recognise care as valuable work while creating employment opportunities and improving the well-being of children, families and caregivers.

The director commended the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, for approving the summit, noting that she had demonstrated commitment to developing policies and frameworks to advance care reforms in the country.