Unpaid Work Dominates Mexican Women’s Weekly Hours: INEGI

Mexican women dedicate the majority of their weekly hours to unpaid work, performing domestic, caregiving, and community activities, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). The 2024 National Survey on Time Use (ENUT) found that women aged 12 and older spent 64.8% of their weekly time on unpaid labor, with only 33.3% devoted to paid activities.

“Women, in comparison with men, dedicated twice as much of their total working time to unpaid activities,” says Graciela Márquez, President, INEGI, to El Economista. Márquez highlights that tracking these patterns is essential for addressing social and economic disparities.

The survey shows that men allocated 66.7% of their time to paid work, 30.9% to unpaid domestic and caregiving tasks, and 2.3% to unpaid work for self-consumption. In contrast, women reported 39.5 hours per week of unpaid work, including 28.2 hours for domestic tasks, 13.6 hours for caregiving, and eight hours for community or volunteer activities. 

Despite working slightly longer hours overall, averaging 61.1 hours compared with 58 hours for men, women continue to carry the primary responsibility for unpaid labor. Certain states exhibited larger disparities, with Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Nayarit reporting gaps of 8.4, 7.1, and 7.1 hours respectively.

The unequal distribution of unpaid work contributes to broader economic and labor market outcomes. Worky, an HR technology platform, reports in its 2025 Salary Study that women in Mexico earn about 25% less than men in equivalent positions, a gap linked in part to time spent on caregiving and household tasks. Women perform on average 42 hours per week of unpaid household work, 121% more than men, while working 20% fewer paid hours.

Experts argue that public investment in care infrastructure and gender-sensitive workplace policies could help address these disparities. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that expanding care services could generate millions of jobs worldwide, with women accounting for nearly 80% of positions, supporting both labor force participation and gender equity. Programs like the National Rehabilitation Institute Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra’s caregiver training initiative in Mexico also aim to professionalize home care, equipping families with tools to manage rehabilitation while reducing physical and emotional strain.

Analysts say addressing unpaid labor imbalances could have long-term economic benefits. Estimates from IMCO suggest that increasing women’s workforce participation could add MX$630 billion (US$33.4 billion) to Mexico’s GDP over the next decade, cites MBN. Observers note that without structural reforms in care provision, labor policies, and workplace flexibility, women will continue to face significant barriers to economic inclusion.