Women are unfairly subsidising Africa’s economies. It’s time governments paid their share
By Rumbidzayi Makoni, Africa Cares Together (ACT) Project Coordinator
Care work is that invisible work that makes all other work visible and possible. Women and girls in Africa have performed this work in the background – waking up earlier than everyone else in the home to fetch water, prepare meals, get kids ready for school and look after the sick. While this essential work is critical to functioning families and economies, it remains absent from national budgets, invisible in economic planning, and unsupported in public policy. This must change.
By virtue of its nature, care is a public good, and its neglect is both a gender and fiscal injustice. It requires bold moves at national and regional levels to address these injustices. One of the boldest actions is for governments to mobilise public financing for care through progressive, gender-responsive tax policies. Without tax justice, the right to care will remain nothing more than a promise on paper.
Studies from across Africa suggest that if monetised, unpaid care and domestic work would be equivalent to anything between 10%-20% of GDP in African countries. A UN Women’s study in Mali revealed that if we were to value unpaid care and domestic work, it would represent 22.3% of the nation’s GDP with women accounting for 17.6% alone1. Evidence drawn from the Scaling Care Innovations in Africa (SCIA) program shows that in Ethiopia, care work contributes over 22% of GDP, yet receives no proportional investment. In Côte d’Ivoire, rural women spend up to eight hours a day on unpaid care tasks and in Kenya, mothers lose five hours of time for paid work daily to unpaid childcare. This overwhelming evidence reflects a hidden subsidy: billions of dollars of women’s unpaid labour that props up economies that refuse to invest in childcare, water infrastructure, energy, healthcare, or social protection.
According to the Care at Work: Investing in Care Leave and Services for a More Gender Equal World of Work by ILO2, closing the global care gaps requires a sustainable annual investment of over $204 billion by 2035. This is equal to an average of 5.8 per cent of GDP per country in Africa.3 This can be done only if there is political will from African countries, however, the current mantra is where do we get the money? African budgets are stretched as it is.
Several organisations, feminist economists and UN bodies have investigated the African financial architecture and have realized that Africa is not as helpless as it feels. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that Africa is losing over US$86 billion annually through illicit financial flows4. Money which, if collected through a just tax system can go a long way in addressing the care gap in the continent. Taxation is a political tool that can either reinforce inequality or redistribute wealth to secure rights and it is high time African governments use this tool for the latter – tax justice. It is encouraging to note that the current discussions on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation shows potential for this to be a trillion-dollar treaty that can crack down tax havens giving a real shot at reducing inequality within nations and trans-nationally5.
Tax justice means taxing multinational corporations fairly, curbing illicit financial flows, taxing wealth - not basic goods, ending harmful tax incentives that starve public services, and funding universal childcare, elder care, disability support, and social protection systems.
The Scaling Care Innovations in Africa program demonstrates powerful models of what is possible when care is resourced. For instance, in Rwanda, the Bandebereho project is promoting men’s roles as caregivers and partners. This project has been scaled nationally through government investment has transformed gender norms and improved health outcomes6. In Togo and Benin, the Consortium Régional pour la Recherche en Économie Générationnelle, Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Association Coeur Solidaire (ACS) and Association d’Aide au Developpement des Femmes du Benin (AADEF-Benin) are using National Transfer Accounts and National Time Transfer Accounts to show the economic value of care work. This information is being used to influence policy makers through capacity building and advocacy thereby driving momentum toward inclusive laws and budgets.
The mix of evidence on the value of care, the financial requirement to support care and the positive gender transformation and improved health outcomes are key learnings that we should not sleep on. They are clear evidence that by shifting the burden of care from individual women to collective and public systems not only influences positive outcomes for women but on economies. The building blocks for the next economic order include:
- Progressive taxation
- Gender-responsive budgeting that values care work
- Public investment in Gender Responsive Public water, sanitation, energy, childcare, health, and elder care services.
- Decent wages and protections for paid care workers and
- Recognition of unpaid care in national statistics and development plans
The African Union, SADC, ECOWAS, and national governments now have an opportunity to champion care-responsive fiscal reform. With global momentum—from Africa’s bold stance on a more equitable global tax architecture—Africa’s voice must continue to be bold, unified, and unapologetic, strengthening inclusive care systems. Care is not charity, it is not a private family issue, and it surely is not women’s destiny. Instead, care is infrastructure, economy and most of all care is a right - and rights must be financed.
If governments are serious about gender equality, if they are serious about economic resilience, if they are serious about social protection—then the path forward is clear - invest in care, fund care, and transform care through fair, just, gender-responsive taxation.