A new UN report has emerged showing that girls around the World spend as much as 160 million extra hours everyday doing house chores and other unpaid work than boys.
According to the report by the UN Children Agency, girls between the ages of five and fourteen spend 40 per cent more time performing such chores.
For many of the girls, more tasks are imposed on them as they grow up from ages five and by fourteen; they are already performing far more tasks that they should, the bbc reports.
“Two out of three girls cook and clean in the home, and almost half collect water or firewood.
“They also perform more “less visible” domestic work like childcare or looking after the elderly, the report says,” the report said.
It said that some of the tasks such as gathering water or firewood put the girls in harm’s way and at the risk of sexual violence.
According to the report as published by the BBC, girls in Somalia between 10 and 14 years old spend 26 hours a week on household chores.
Burkina Faso and Yemen also have some of the largest labour gaps between boys and girls.
“Girls sacrifice important opportunities to learn, grow and just enjoy their childhood,” Unicef’s Anju Malhotra said.
“This unequal distribution of labour among children also perpetuates gender stereotypes and the double burden on women and girls across generations.”
The report is billed to be officially released Oct. 11, the day for the commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child.
It will also contain data on violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation and education.
