In 2025, women in the Republic of Moldova spent an average of 4.6 hours a day on unpaid domestic and care work, compared with 2.8 hours for men. Data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on 29 October 2026 show a daily difference of 1.8 hours between women and men.
In brief
In 2025, the participation rate in unpaid domestic and care work was 94.2% among women aged 15 and over and 82.6% among men of the same age.
People aged 25–34 who did unpaid household and care work devoted an average of 5 hours a day to these activities in 2025.
In 2025, meal preparation and serving involved 86.9% of women aged 15 and over, compared with 44.2% of men of the same age.
How should the daily averages be interpreted?
The averages of 4.6 hours for women and 2.8 hours for men also include people who did not perform unpaid household or care work. When only those who took part in these activities are counted, the duration rises to 4.9 hours a day for women and 3.4 hours for men.
The difference between women and men who performed these activities is therefore 1.5 hours a day. The NBS research was conducted from July to December 2025 as an additional module of the Labour Force Survey of Households.
Which activities are divided differently?
Meal preparation and serving is the most commonly performed domestic activity among both women and men. Women’s participation in these tasks was 86.9%, compared with 44.2% for men.
Women were also more frequently involved in cleaning the home, washing laundry and caring for clothes. Men took part more in cleaning and maintaining outdoor areas, carrying out minor repairs, and maintaining buildings, vehicles or equipment.
How does the time spent vary by age and place of residence?
People aged 25–34 who performed unpaid domestic and care activities recorded the highest average duration: 5 hours a day. This age group also had the highest participation rate, at 91.8%.
Differences between rural and urban areas were smaller than those between women and men. Calculated for the entire reference population, including those who did not take part in these activities, average daily time was 3.8 hours in rural areas and 3.7 hours in urban areas.
Sources
- Biroul Național de Statistică — Utilizarea timpului în Republica Moldova: Munca casnică și de îngrijire neplătite
Written with AI assistance from the official sources above and checked by the editors.
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