The unpaid work in Moldova is mainly done by women. The annual value of voluntary work is equal to the value of a Gross Domestic Product. Being as educated as the men, the women allot twice more time to housework, more often become involved in volunteering and amuse themselves less.
These are only some of the conclusions of the statistical research “Time use in the Republic of Moldova” that was carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics within the UN Strengthening the National Statistical System Program, with financial support from UNDP, UN Women and the Government of Sweden, IPN reports.
According to the study, the Moldovans use daily 3.9 hours for voluntary work, which is done mostly by women who are paid only for three minutes of ten allocated for work, while men are paid for five minutes. The young people in villages devote twice more time to housework than those in towns.
Almost two times more mothers than fathers become daily involved in childcare activities. Six in ten mothers use daily by two hours a day to wash, feed and dress the children, and only two in ten fathers do the same, but only during one hour a day. The parents in rural areas and those on higher incomes allot less time for looking after the children.
The girls study on average by 18 minutes a day more than boys. In towns, the girls study by one hour a day more than boys. The Moldovans read by 17 minutes a day or by 7 minutes fewer than the citizens of the EU member states. The people in towns devote twice more time to reading than those in villages - 23 and, respectively, 12 minutes a day. The Moldovans younger than 34 read mainly online, while those older than 35 read traditional books and periodicals.
Each sixth woman and each eighth man considers that their state of health is poor and very poor. Each third townsperson and each eighth villager do physical exercises.
The Moldovan men spend by half an hour a day more for socialization and cultural activities and entertainment than women. Only 0.2% of the Moldovans in villages and 0.45% of those in towns go to the theater and to the movies. The people with higher education and on higher incomes devote less time to socialization activities and entertainment.
Compared with the Italians and Spanish people, the Moldovans allocate twice or even thrice more time for volunteering for other households and five times less time for volunteering through/for organizations. One in ten Moldovans does volunteer work in the form of unpaid help to other households and only one in 500 Moldovans does volunteer work through organizations.
The gender-sensitive statistics are used to work out efficient policies for reducing the inequality between women and men, said director general of the National Bureau of Statistics Lucia Spoiala. The research was conducted during 12 months and covered over 10,000 people.
