Working women are more likely to suffer time poverty than men, which is something that affects their health. This conclusion comes from the latest Municipal Omnibus Survey from December 2024, on care, poverty and time and the digital gender divide, where an in-depth analysis of time poverty was made, understanding time poverty as a scarcity of available time for personal and recreational activities after carrying out paid or unpaid work.

The results show that a third of women (32.2%) and 24.6% of men stated they did not have at least three hours for themselves on working days, once they covered all their basic needs and work obligations, training, household tasks and care of others.

On a separate note, a significantly high percentage of women affirmed they do not have enough time to do all their everyday tasks, particularly relating to the care of dependent people and managing the home. The divide is more evident in certain age groups, for instance from 35 to 54, where the burden of family and work responsibilities is greater.

As for the sensation of anxiety relating to time, some 59.6% of women stated they agreed with this, compared to 49.6% of men. The perception is linked to the burden of domestic work and care work, which mainly falls on women: women devote an average of 8.5 hours a day to care, while men devote 6.2 hours. In addition, some 17% of women with people in their care state this requires total devotion, often an invisible task.

Finally, relating to the perception of time devoted to care, 57% of women and 56% of men believe they spend enough time on this. At the same time, more men than women, 35.5% compared to 33.8%, consider they don’t spend enough time on it.