Household labor in Kyrgyzstan primarily falls on the shoulders of women, as confirmed by data from a study conducted by the National Statistical Committee titled "Time Budget Survey." According to the collected statistics, women spend an average of about 4 hours and 40 minutes daily on household duties, which accounts for more than 19.4% of the total hours in a day. For men, this figure is significantly lower—only 3.8%, which is equivalent to less than one hour.
Interestingly, in rural areas, both men and women spend 1.2 times more time on household chores compared to urban residents. Working women in villages dedicate about 6.5 hours a day to household tasks, while in cities this time is approximately 5 hours. For working men, the difference in time spent is less noticeable: in villages, they spend about 50 minutes, while in cities, around 35 minutes.
The structure of household responsibilities also differs between genders. Men, regardless of their place of residence, are more likely to engage in repairing household appliances, furniture, and housing. In cities, about 11% of their time spent on household labor is devoted to these types of work, while in villages, this figure can reach up to 30%. Men also actively participate in grocery shopping, which takes up 15 to 23% of their time.
Women, on the other hand, perform a wider range of household tasks, which depends on their place of residence, family composition, and employment level. In cities, working women spend about 9% of their time on shopping, while the remaining 91% is spent on various household duties. The most significant time expenditures are on cooking (30%), caring for children and grandchildren (17%), cleaning (14%), washing dishes (10%), and laundry and ironing (10%).
In rural areas, working women spend about 6% of their time on shopping, while 94% is dedicated to household chores. In this case, cooking takes up 28% of their time, caring for children and grandchildren takes 15%, cleaning takes 14%, washing dishes takes 13%, and laundry and ironing take 12%.
Among the working population, the most time dedicated to household duties is observed in men aged 35 to 44 years and over 60 years, as well as in women aged 14 to 34 years.
