Women’s League Seeks National Evidence on Unpaid Care

The Women’s League of Namibia’s Popular Democratic Movement has called for a national study measuring the economic impact of unpaid care work. The proposal asks the country to record the time households devote to childcare, eldercare, disability support, cooking, cleaning and community assistance, then connect those hours with employment, income and public spending. Its central claim is that care sustains the economy while much of its value remains invisible in official statistics.

Unpaid care work is often treated as a private domestic matter, yet it supports paid employment by maintaining households and caring for relatives who cannot work. It also enables children to attend school, helps family members recover from illness and preserves the social connections on which communities depend. When this labour is not counted, economic policy can mistake the consequences of reduced care for a simple lack of worker motivation.

A credible inquiry would go beyond estimating the number of hours spent on unpaid duties. It would examine who performs them, how the burden changes over a lifetime, how it affects decisions about employment and migration, and what families spend on paid substitutes. The findings could reveal the scale of time poverty, the value of care skills and the public resources required when families cannot provide care themselves.

For an Australian audience, the proposal offers a useful comparison. Australia’s Bureau of Statistics has used time-use surveys to reveal how unpaid household work affects the labour market, while debates about the “fair go” frequently turn on whether people have a genuine chance to work and support their families. Canberra’s policy-making environment demonstrates how better data can shape childcare, aged care and workplace rules, although Namibia must develop a study suited to its own communities and economy.

The Economic Cost Hidden From View

Gross domestic product records the value of goods and services produced within a country. It generally excludes unpaid labour performed in homes, even when that labour has a clear market equivalent. A parent providing daily childcare, a relative nursing a sick family member or a resident caring for a disabled neighbour therefore contributes to economic activity without generating recorded output.

The economic impact extends beyond the apparent value of each task. Time spent on care may mean fewer paid working hours, missed promotions, lower lifetime earnings or an earlier exit from the labour market. It can also limit a family’s ability to start a business, move for a better job or respond to a financial emergency. These effects are particularly important where care responsibilities fall heavily on women and where formal childcare and support services are expensive or distant.

Without a reliable baseline, governments cannot compare the burden across regions, income groups or household types. They also struggle to judge whether support programmes are reaching the people with the greatest need. A national study would turn repeated personal accounts into evidence that legislators, employers and service providers can test, compare and improve. The numbers would not capture every human value of care, but they would expose its substantial opportunity cost.

Designing a Rigorous National Study

The study should combine a national time-use survey with labour-force data, household income information and detailed local research. Participants could record care and non-care activities over full days, including ordinary weekdays and weekends. Time diaries should cover childcare, eldercare, disability assistance, household maintenance, food preparation, shopping, caring for livestock and unpaid support for community organisations.

Sampling must reflect Namibia’s geography and social diversity. The survey should include urban and rural households, formal and informal settlements, different household structures, varying levels of disability and caregivers with different levels of education. Seasonal data would also help identify peak periods in farming, tourism, fishing and domestic work. Supplementary interviews would explain what the figures mean to the people performing the work.

Technical standards, privacy protections and public reporting rules should be settled before fieldwork begins. An independent statistical authority could coordinate the research with universities, ministries, employers and worker organisations, while regional representatives help ensure that survey categories reflect local realities. The proposed measurement framework should also connect with the social and economic commitments recorded in the PDM policy documents, making the study relevant to democratic planning rather than an isolated academic exercise.

What Better Evidence Would Show

The first likely finding would concern women’s employment. If reliable care reduces the hours available for paid work, policies that expand childcare without addressing quality, affordability or long travel distances will have limited results. Care data could also show whether women are concentrating in less secure jobs to accommodate family responsibilities and whether they face a measurable earnings penalty compared with men in similar positions.

A second strand of evidence would value the wider care economy. Families already purchase cleaning, cooking, childcare and personal assistance, while public services support people whose families cannot meet every need. Estimating this expenditure would show how household budgets respond to changing wages, transport costs and service availability. It would also help government determine when private spending is filling a public gap and when publicly funded support avoids costly consequences later.

A third finding could measure the relationship between care, poverty and economic security. Households with high unpaid workloads may have little cash income and limited time to seek work, training or suitable housing. Conversely, reliable care can allow a family member to enter paid employment and contribute to public revenue. The research could therefore compare the immediate cost of support with the longer-term gains in output, tax revenue and household wellbeing.

Public communication would be essential because figures about care are easily detached from the lives behind them. The PDM’s official website could host short regional profiles, accessible summaries and progress updates, showing how national totals differ between communities. Findings should be written in clear language for families as well as policymakers, with technical reports available for detailed analysis.

Turning Evidence Into Supportive Policy

Better measurement should guide the design of practical support. Affordable childcare, accessible eldercare, disability services, paid family leave and respite care all reduce the risk that unpaid responsibility becomes an unavoidable burden. Where appropriate, tax credits or direct transfers may help families purchase care without shifting the entire responsibility onto women. Publicly funded services should also be evaluated for their effects on employment and household stability.

Australia illustrates both the possibilities and the limitations of comparing policy models. The national paid parental leave scheme, Child Care Subsidy and National Disability Insurance Scheme address different stages of care, while the market for cleaners, gardeners, in-home aged care and disability support gives families paid alternatives. Australian debates about service availability in regional areas show that an entitlement on paper has little value when workers cannot reach or retain support in areas with thin labour markets.

Namibian policy must account for different household arrangements, incomes and distances. A single national formula may fail in Windhoek, where employment and transport patterns differ from those in rural farming communities, livestock-rearing households or informal settlements. The study should identify which barriers are financial, geographic or social, then allow governments to fund solutions that match each location. Care standards and worker protections should accompany public spending so that paid care services create decent work rather than another category of insecure employment.

Recognising care skills could also widen economic participation. Training in early childhood development, personal assistance, nutrition and household financial management would allow people with practical experience to move into paid roles. Public institutions and responsible businesses could include accredited care experience when recruiting staff. This approach treats care as valuable expertise while ensuring that essential services meet consistent safety and quality standards.

Accounting for Regional and Cultural Realities

A credible national study must capture unpaid work that formal surveys often overlook. In Windhoek, childcare and domestic work may follow patterns shaped by long commutes and the cost of private services. In northern and southern rural communities, caregiving can be combined with subsistence farming, livestock duties, water collection and support for extended families. Informal urban workers may also provide substantial care while their own earnings remain irregular.

Australian comparisons need similar care. In Darwin, Alice Springs and parts of northern Queensland, travel distances, workforce shortages and housing pressures shape the availability of paid services. Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have longstanding systems of kinship care and community responsibility, shaped by distinct cultural obligations and service conditions. A survey designed around urban assumptions could misclassify these arrangements or place an unfair burden on respondents.

Methods should be developed with communities rather than applied uniformly from the capital. Local languages, trusted interviewers and community-controlled data processes can improve participation and protect sensitive information. Disability-led groups should help define support tasks, while older people and young carers can describe needs that broader household questions may miss. Measurement must include unpaid community work as well as care delivered within the family.

These regional differences are not obstacles to national comparison; they are part of the evidence a national study should preserve. Separate totals and carefully documented local categories would allow policymakers to see whether care burdens are rising in one area while falling in another. The result would be a national picture grounded in the actual lives of Namibian households rather than a narrow urban template.

Publishing Findings and Tracking Action

Governance should be transparent from the start. Statistics Namibia could publish the methodology and sampling framework, while a steering group representing government, labour, employers, disability organisations, researchers and the Women’s League could oversee progress. The group should state how participants’ privacy will be protected, how community reviewers will contribute and how competing findings will be handled.

Results should reach the public through more than official communiqués. A national evidence conference could bring together caregivers, unions, service providers and economists, with proceedings and audio records made available online. Established news channels also have a role in testing proposals against public concerns, including Tatobay News coverage, which can extend scrutiny beyond institutional circles. Public debate should focus on what the evidence shows, who benefits and what resources are available.

The study must be followed by a response. Government could publish a time-bound plan for childcare, eldercare, disability support and care leave, identify the responsible ministry and specify the budget attached to each measure. Annual updates should track care hours, service access, employment effects and disparities between regions. Legislative reviews could then assess whether stated commitments have produced measurable benefits.

A transparent national study, combined with funded action and public reporting, would make hidden labour visible in Namibia’s economic planning. It would give women a stronger basis for demanding fair participation, give employers a clearer view of workforce barriers, and give government the evidence required to build a care economy that works for families, workers and the nation.