4am to 10pm: A day in the life of a Kenyan woman

Women described continuing household duties even when they were unwell because other family members depended on them.

At 4am, when many people are still asleep, Zainab is already up, fetching water and preparing breakfast. By the time she returns home from paid work in the evening, the day's second shift of cooking for her family is waiting.

Zainab, who took part in a study on unpaid care and domestic work, says her working day can stretch from early morning until late at night past 10pm.

“I wake up at 4am and start by washing the clothes, fetching water, washing the utensils, and cleaning myself. I leave the house having prepared breakfast for my husband and the food he will take for lunch. I come back at 8pm very exhausted and start preparing supper,” she told researchers.

Her account captures a problem that is often overlooked when work is measured only by paid employment. Cooking, cleaning, fetching water, washing clothes and caring for children or sick relatives keep households running, but much of this labour is unpaid.

The study published in the journal Social Science & Medicine examines how this work affects women's health and wellbeing in Kisumu County and Mukono District in Uganda.

 Researchers Cynthia Itbo Musah from the University of Waterloo and Susan Elliott (United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health) conducted 36 in-depth interviews with women aged 18 to 59 and collected 30 life histories from women aged 60 and above.

The women described persistent stress, physical exhaustion, lack of sleep and insufficient time to attend to their own health. The researchers also found that unequal responsibility for household work often became accepted as a normal part of being a woman, wife or mother.

Their paper is titled “Embodied harm, normalised suffering: experiences of unpaid care and domestic work among women across the life course in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Kenya's national figures show that the burden is not confined to individual households.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics found that women spent more than five times as many hours as men on unpaid domestic and care work in 2021. Its subsequent report, Economic Value of Unpaid Domestic and Care Work in Kenya 2025, estimated that the country spent 30.7 billion hours on this work in 2021.

Women accounted for 25.8 billion hours, compared with 4.8 billion hours for men. The KNBS estimated the total value of this labour at Sh2.24 trillion, with women accounting for Sh1.89 trillion, or 84 per cent.

These activities include preparing meals, cleaning homes, collecting water and fuel, caring for children and looking after other family members. They are generally not paid like formal employment, although they sustain families and the wider economy.

The figures help explain why a woman with a job can still have little time for herself. Having a job does not necessarily replace domestic responsibilities.

In the Kisumu study, Grace, another participant aged between 35 and 49, described how the absence of piped water increased the work she had to complete before and after her job.

“As a woman, when I just wake up in the morning, I prepare tea for the children, wash utensils, clean the house, and prepare them for school. After that, I come back and fetch water, then wash my clothes. For now, I'm adapting; yes, I'm adapting because it is not easy fetching water,” she said.

Grace explained that she also had to finish household chores before leaving for paid work and resume them when she returned. The repeated bending involved in cleaning left her with back pain, while sleep was often her only opportunity to recover.

The researchers identified five connected ways unpaid care work harmed women's wellbeing. These included stress over feeding and supporting families, physical strain from repetitive tasks, competing responsibilities, shortened sleep and the tendency to put personal healthcare last.

Women described continuing household duties even when they were unwell because other family members depended on them.

For some, the burden also limited their ability to earn money. Time spent fetching water, preparing food or caring for relatives could reduce the time available for paid work, education or rest.

The study does not suggest that women do not value caring for their families. Rather, it shows that love and a sense of duty can exist alongside exhaustion and a desire for more support.

Kenya has begun recognising the economic importance of unpaid care. The National Care Policy, endorsed by Cabinet in December 2025 and subsequently submitted to Parliament for consideration, seeks to recognise unpaid work, reduce its demands and distribute responsibilities more fairly.

The researchers argued that recognition alone will not give women more time unless practical alternatives are available.

They pointed to investment in reliable water supplies, affordable childcare and eldercare, accessible healthcare and social protection. Responsibility must also be shared more fairly within households.

Mama Wambui, one of the respondents, described how expectations surrounding domestic responsibility were learned by observing other married women:  “Once you are married, you get to see how other women were doing it. You could realise that men did not participate in house chores. You would get to know that it was the women who were all over, and it would be surprising how they managed. And you too would follow suit.”