WILLEMSTAD – Household duties and family responsibilities remain major factors keeping women outside Curaçao’s labour market, according to the Labour Force Survey 2025 published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The survey shows that women are much more likely than men to be economically inactive because of unpaid household work and caregiving responsibilities.
Of the nearly 2,900 people who reported that household activities were the reason they were not participating in the labour market, almost 2,600 were women.
Women were also disproportionately represented among those who were inactive because of family circumstances. Nearly 2,200 women fell into this category, approximately twice the number of men.
The CBS notes that these figures highlight the continued unequal distribution of unpaid care work within households.
Impact on economic independence
According to the CBS, women spend an average of four hours every day performing unpaid domestic work, including caring for children and elderly relatives. Men spend an average of two and a half hours daily on similar tasks.
The unequal division of responsibilities can affect women’s ability to participate in paid employment, develop their careers and achieve financial independence.
The findings are significant because Curaçao recorded a decline in the number of employed persons in 2025, with the reduction entirely concentrated among women.
While the number of employed women decreased by more than 1,300, employment among men increased by almost 400.
Fewer unemployed women, but not necessarily more jobs
The CBS also reported a decline in official female unemployment, with the number of unemployed women falling from nearly 3,500 in 2024 to slightly more than 2,100 in 2025.
However, the decrease does not necessarily mean that thousands of women entered employment. Some women moved out of the labour force entirely and are therefore no longer counted as unemployed.
The CBS defines unemployed persons as those who do not have work, are actively searching for employment and are available to start working within two weeks.
The increase in economically inactive women indicates that a significant number of women are no longer actively participating in the labour market.
Need for further analysis
The CBS does not provide a specific explanation for why the number of inactive women increased sharply in 2025. However, the data shows that women are far more likely than men to remain outside the labour market because of household responsibilities and family obligations.
The statistics are based on a household survey and should be interpreted as estimates. Since the CBS did not publish margins of error for the individual figures, further analysis is needed to determine the significance of specific changes.
The results raise broader questions about childcare, caregiving support, workplace flexibility and policies that could help more women participate in Curaçao’s economy.