If a new bill on family eventually sails through parliament, unpaid care work will soon be valued in divorce settlement cases, after a study found that Rwandan women spend disproportionately more time than men on unpaid care work.

An activity is considered unpaid work if a third party could be paid to do it. Examples include, but are not limited to, routine housework, shopping, and caring for other members of the household such as children and the sick.

According to UN Women Rwanda's 2022 baseline Survey on unpaid care work status among women and men in eight districts of Rwanda, women and girls from rural and urban areas carry a heavier burden of care work than their male counterparts.

The survey showed that rural women spend on average 7.1 hours per day working on unpaid care work while men spend 2.1 hours only. It is not so much different from urban women who spend 6.9 hours per day while their male counterparts spend 2.1 hours.

It also showed that this is not merely a generational issue, because most of the men interviewed said they were never exposed or taught to work on unpaid care work by their parents.

Over 60 percent of men have never observed their fathers or other men in the household preparing meals, cleaning the house, or washing clothes, 50 percent have never seen their fathers or other men in the households taking care of themselves or their siblings, more than 45 percent were never taught of cleaning the house, washing clothes as well as taking care of themselves or their siblings, and 54.9 percent were never taught of preparing meals.

The women didn’t complain either. 90 percent of married women reported being satisfied with how the labour is divided with their spouses, 30.35 percent of them being very satisfied.

However, if the draft family law is approved by parliament, unpaid care work will not go unvalued, at least in a divorce settlement case, with a concern that every hour a woman spends on unpaid care work is one hour less she could potentially spend on market-related activities or acquiring educational and vocational skills, hence a contribution to her family.

The draft bill is currently still at the ministerial level and will soon be tabled before cabinet.

An explanatory note of the bill states in part that, "If this work is valued in monetary terms and the person who does it is rewarded; it would be very beneficial in their development. It was put in the draft law so that in case there has to be a divorce settlement, the judge will value the work done to develop the household.”

A 2021 landmark divorce case in China had a man pay his ex-wife for five years of unpaid housework, raising a huge debate online over the value of domestic work, with some saying the compensation amount was too little.

The presiding judge then told reporters that the division of a couple's joint property after marriage usually entails splitting tangible property, but housework constitutes intangible property value.

The ruling was made according to a civil code in the country which came into effect in 2021, where a spouse is entitled to seek compensation in a divorce if he or she bears more responsibility in child raising, caring for elderly relatives, and assisting partners in their work.

Changes in the draft family law

If this bill passes, Rwanda will become among the few countries in the world compensating spouses for unpaid care work in divorce settlements.

Another change seen in the bill is the 50/50 split in property in case of divorce of couples married under the community of property regime. In the draft law, the judge will determine who gets what depending on different reasons, contrary to the current law which determined that both partners divide their property equally.

The concern is that some people engage in marriage with an aim to scam their partners, ending up in divorce in a short period, and both dividing the property equally.

Other changes in divorce cases include that the court will no longer take time to mediate couples who wish to divorce, and that "not being able” to stay married will also be among the grounds for divorce even if requested by one of the parties.

Currently, when court receives a divorce petition, the judge first considers reconciliation and reunification of the couple, however, this clause was removed from the draft bill as it turned out not to be productive. In some instances, the waiting period caused more conflicts that turned violent and also affected children.

The draft bill also provides for a divorce acceptance in the event one of the partners, without providing reasons, is unwilling to continue living together.

The bill will also see the removal of the mandatory two years that is currently required for those who wish to divorce by mutual consent. Spouses can agree to divorce before the two years elapse. Continuing to be legally bound may cause further problems.

Additionally, married couples may decide to have their marital properties managed by the notary but the decision has to be mutual.

Couples may not be required to hold a flag during civil marriage since holding the flag is the responsibility of the civil register who presides over the marriage.