The time poverty trap

After having explained my interest in the issue of women and water in Africa, and now that I have briefly contextualised the physical difficulty of water provision in my last two posts, I can now begin to draw attention to gender. The first aspect that I want to elaborate and explore is the widening of the gender equality gap through time poverty. As I discussed in my first post, time poverty refers to the ‘unavailability of time for productive work’ (Jan and Pervez 2015: 64). This refers to the difficulty for women to get involved in other activity, such as education or more formal employment, due to their time being prioritised to water collection. Whilst gender equality has become a focal point for countries, specifically those deemed as ‘developed’ although again, the definition of development is ambiguous, some countries are still yet to reverse their patriarchal stance. Some women in many African countries, such as Ethiopia, are still marginalised despite emerging equality reforms. This includes being denied the right to education for the full duration of their studies, being subjected to mental and physical violence, and carrying the expectation of managing households’ chores instead of finding formal employment.

Spending time in Lake Naivasha (Kenya) this summer allowed me to engage with an unequal system that threatens gender equality. A number of the women that I interviewed directly explained how they were expected to cater for the household in all aspects apart from financially, and stay at home before they discovered the female-dominated flower industry for formal employment. Women are financially empowered through this industry as they have the ability to make their own decisions about employment whilst providing for their families without depending on a husband. Many countries are not as fortunate to have a such gendered industries and so women are still expected to spend their time providing for the family, including collecting water. After reading a number of articles on the expectations of women in Africa, I have decided to explore the issue of time poverty specifically in Ethiopia to broaden this blog.

Ethiopia is another country subjected to severe water shortages which has resulted in 62 million people lacking the ability to access safe water (Water.org). Parts still exercise patriarchal ideals and hence demonstrates a gender disparity within the social, economic and political domains of society. Studies have revealed that the traditional barrier to female education has resulted in a higher educational attainment of men by 64.1% in comparison to the women sharing the household (Eneyew and Mengistu, 2013). In the same study it was identified that one of the primary roles of women was reproduction and care, including the collection of water and firewood (Eneyew and Mengistu, 2013). The time spent in water collection alongside other household demands such as caring for children and tending to livestock culminates in working for over 18 hours regularly, 6 hours greater than the average man (Eneyew and Mengistu, 2013). 

The daily routines of pastoral women in rural Ethiopia. Source

Encompassing the whole region of sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that annually 40 billion hours are spent by women and young children through water collection (Abulude and Fagbayide, 2018). These hours that could have been spent in a form of education, employment, or the luxury of leisure causes significant economic loss and demonstrates social injustice. In addition to the societal challenges of water collection, there is extreme physical pressure placed on these women’s shoulders – literally! They have to endure carrying water holders weighing 20-25kg for an average of 3.5km in extreme temperatures (Ferguson, 1986). Unexpectedly, this leads to physical fatigue and exhaustion which reduces their ability to do the same exercise repeatedly, ultimately lowering their provision of care over time.

I was surprised to also read that the rural women studied felt uncomfortable if they witnessed their husbands collecting the water (Eneyew and Mengistu, 2013). It is therefore evident that it is much more complex than a traditional barrier to reducing women’s time poverty in Ethiopia. The female mindset also reduces the possibility of narrowing the gender gap. I find this comment incredibly poignant as it is important to recognise that changing physical infrastructure would not necessarily guarantee an improvement to the lives of women. There is a cultural norm about the role of women which is deeply embedded in a patriarchal history in some societies. I will go into the ways in which planning is being conducted to alleviate the time poverty trap for women over the next few weeks.