By Philomina Adjei

At 16 years old, while many teenagers were preparing for the next stage of their lives after completing secondary school, I was waking up as early as 4:00 a.m. to take care of a household I was living in. Every morning, I prepared meals, prepared the children for school, swept the compound, cleaned the rooms, and washed clothes for five family members. On days when I experienced painful menstrual cramps, I still pushed myself because I did not want to be seen as lazy. For all the work I did, I received nothing. Sometimes I wondered: was the payment for all the work I did simply the roof over my head and the food I ate? My story is not unique. It reflects the experiences of many girls across Ghana and Africa whose daily contributions remain invisible. During a time-diary data collection exercise in Hohoe in 2023, we observed that adolescent girls spent more time on household chores and caregiving compared to boys of the same age. While many boys had time to play, rest, or study after school, many girls moved from one responsibility to another. A girl in primary school or junior high school wakes up before dawn to sweep, fetch water, prepare meals, and get her younger siblings ready for school before getting ready for school. After school, she returns home to hawk goods, help in a family shop, cook dinner, wash dishes, and care for younger siblings. By the time she opens her books, she falls asleep over her homework. I know a 14-year-old girl who has become the main caregiver for her father, who lives with diabetes and serious eye problems. After completing her Basic Education Certificate Examination, she could not enjoy a break because she had to remain home to care for him. She constantly cried because she was already carrying the emotional burden of watching her father’s health decline, and losing her own opportunity to pause made it even heavier. These responsibilities do not only take away girls’ time but affect their education, social lives, and well-being. Many girls arrive at school exhausted, making it difficult to concentrate and perform well academically. Beyond physical labour, girls also carry emotional responsibilities within families like comforting crying siblings, caring for younger children, supporting sick family members, and holding households together when adults are unavailable. In carrying these burdens, many girls sacrifice their childhood, friendships, and personal development. So, let me ask: if this is not work, then what is it? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, work is not only about earning wages. It also means carrying out a task requiring sustained effort or exerting yourself physically and mentally for a purpose or under necessity. The responsibilities many girls carry fit this definition. Yet because this work is unpaid and happens mostly in homes, society calls it “chores,” “training,” or simply “what girls do.”

These responsibilities require time, energy, skills, and sacrifice. The fact that they are unpaid does not make them less valuable. The Maputo Protocol existed before I was born. I am twenty-one now, and the Protocol is twenty-three years old. Can we honestly say we have made enough progress? The Maputo Protocol in Article 13 calls on governments to recognise the economic value of women’s work in the home and protect girls from exploitation. Yet what girls do at home is still treated as “a girl’s duty” or preparation to become good wives, while boys are rarely taught the same responsibilities needed to become good husbands. The Protocol also calls for a minimum working age and protection against child exploitation. So when a teenage girl hawks goods or works in a family shop, is that not work? If an adult performed the same task, they would expect payment. Why does a girl’s labour disappear into the idea of “helping out”? The work girls do already has value because it keeps families, homes, and communities running. My ask is simple. To parents and families: appreciate the work girls do. Share household responsibilities fairly between boys and girls so girls also have time to study, rest, play, and enjoy their childhood. Teach boys that caring for a home and family is not only a girl’s responsibility. To governments and policymakers: recognise unpaid care and domestic work in policies and statistics, expand social protection programmes that support struggling families, so girls are not forced to take on extra responsibilities, invest in affordable childcare services so older girls are not forced to care for younger children and enforce laws that protect children from exploitation. From dawn to dusk, girls are holding households and communities together. Their labour may not come with a payslip, but it comes with responsibility, sacrifice, and impact. The work girls do has always counted. It is time society counts it too.