Kenyan Men Overtake Ladies on Time Spent on Self Care, Says Kenya National Bureau of Statistics

According to a recent report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Kenyan men are becoming increasingly conscious of their own well-being and taking better care of themselves.

The report titled ‘Kenya Time Use Survey’ discloses that men devote 710 minutes every day to self-care and upkeep. On the other hand, women dedicate in excess of 11 hours to self-care routine in a day, just five minutes less than men. Self-care activities include a range of activities such as eating healthy, exercising, grooming, walking, and a good night’s rest. In the past, grooming and makeup were thought to be exclusively women’s practices.

The latest report indicates that men spend an average of 103 minutes on activities such as socializing, communicating, community participation and religious practices, which is 13 minutes more than women. Furthermore, men appear to have a greater interest in learning since they allocate an average of 56 minutes to this activity, whereas women spend just 44 minutes. Interestingly, women spend a relatively higher portion (4 hours and 30 minutes) on unpaid domestic services for their households and family members. In contrast, men only spend 49 minutes on this task.

According to the report, females aged 15 years and older devote around 7.2 hours each day to unpaid domestic work. This amount is startlingly high, as it surpasses the national norm of roughly 2.9 hours by approximately 2.5 times. Counties such as Wajir, Samburu, Mandera, and Garissa also have a high proportion of time spent on unpaid care and domestic work by women and girls aged 15+ years. As a result, KNBS plans to develop a care policy and a Household Satellite Account to accurately measure the contribution of unpaid domestic and care work to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.