NEW YORK, 7 October, 2016 – Girls between 5 and 14 years old spend 40 per cent more time, or 160 million more hours a day, on unpaid household chores and collecting water and firewood compared to boys their age, according to a report released by UNICEF ahead of International Day of the Girl on 11 October. "Girls sacrifice important opportunities to learn, grow and just enjoy their childhood," Unicef's Anju Malhotra said. This unequal distribution of labour among children also perpetuates gender stereotypes and the double-burden on women and girls across generations.” 
 
 The report notes that girls’ work is less visible and often undervalued. African girls tell housekeeping tales 
 
 Tasks such as gathering water or firewood can also put young girls at increased risk of sexual violence, the report says. The countries where girls between 10 and 14 years old bear the most disproportionate burden of household chores compared to boys are: Burkina Faso, Yemen and Somalia. It also found that the extra workload increased with time: between ages five and nine, girls spend 30% more time on chores - by 14, it rises to 50%. Harnessing the Power of Data for Girls: Taking stock and looking ahead to 2030 notes that In addition to household chores, the report presents data on girl-related issues addressed by the SDGs including violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation and education.
– In every corner of the world girls do more housework than boys, and this gender gap starts young and only widens with age. So reports UNICEF in a global analysis that finds girls on average spend 40% more time on household chores than do boys, and that this amounts to 160 million more hours of work every day. The gender divide starts by age 5, with girls between the ages of 5 and 9 devoting 30% more time on this unpaid work than boys, and widens to 50% more time for girls between the ages of 10 and 14. The BBC reports that the findings, which include data on violence, child marriage, education, and female genital mutilation, is being formally released on Oct. 11, the UN's international day of the girl. Chores range from cooking and cleaning the house to taking care of family members young and old and collecting water and firewood, reports New York magazine. "As a result, girls sacrifice important opportunities to learn, grow, and just enjoy their childhood," says UNICEF’s principal gender adviser, Anju Malhotra. She adds that the unequal distribution of unpaid labor perpetuates gender stereotypes and in some countries is shown to increase girls' risk of sexual violence. The countries with the highest gender gap are Burkina Faso, Yemen, and Somalia, and girls in Somalia average 26 hours a week on chores, more than any other children anywhere. (Women do the bulk of housework in the US, regardless of how many hours they work outside the home.)