The Distribution of Paid and Unpaid Work among Men and Women in Ghana: The National Time Transfer Accounts Approach

In this study the value and distribution of both paid and unpaid work is estimated, based on time-use survey data for Ghana in 2009. The differences between men and women in performing these activities are highlighted, revealing that there is marked gender specialisation in productive activities: women specialise in household production, whereas men specialise in market production. However, as national accounts are bereft of the time contributions of non-remunerated production – mainly because there is no explicit economic compensation – disaggregating the national production by sex is quite misleading. It also seems to suggest that women’s contribution to the national production is significantly lower than men’s. However, this study finds evidence of “double shift” – that is, women spending more time than men on productive activities for significant parts of their lives. The research also shows that there are substantial net transfers of household production flowing from adults to children and the elderly, in a seemingly equal proportion. Findings suggest that some key policies to free time for women to increase their participation in paid work include bridging the gender gap regarding access to high-level education, reducing total work load, and strengthening their support systems.