Barbadian women continue to bear the heaviest burdens of care, work and social responsibility, despite decades of progress on equality, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey observed on Tuesday.
He told the 30th anniversary commemoration of the Beijing Declaration at United Nations House in Christ Church that gender inequality remains a stark reality in Barbados.
He reported that between July 1 and September 15, the Welfare Department issued 2 478 back-to-school cheques totalling $1.62 million to assist children, with more than 95 per cent of applications made by women. The figures reflect more than just financial support—they highlight the persistent imbalance in responsibilities between men and women, the minister declared.
“Women carry a disproportionate share of the burden on a day-to-day basis, and a significantly disproportionate share of the burden during times of trouble and during times of peril,” he said. “As this being September is our back-to-school moment… well over 95 per cent of the persons making the claims, needless to say, are women.”
Humphrey stressed the need for data-driven solutions to address these disparities. He pointed to the ongoing country assessment of living conditions, which will inform a new poverty line in early 2026, and the planned establishment of the Social Empowerment Agency to improve the delivery of social services.
“This is not to say that men don’t need this help. But the way that our societies are built… the care for the elderly person becomes the woman’s job. And the care for the child becomes the woman’s job. And we have to be able to rectify this,” he said.
Humphrey also highlighted the intersection of gender inequality and climate challenges: “Every time that a hurricane is coming… my phone is [busy] with 99.9 per cent calls from women — women concerned about their elderly parents; women are concerned about their children,” he said. “The reality is that we cannot have a conversation around climate without having a conversation around women.”
He warned that the global climate crisis amplifies existing inequities. “80 per cent of the persons displaced by climate disasters are women and girls. By 2050, we expect that 13 million women and girls in Latin America and the Caribbean will be experiencing some form of poverty. Women perform 76 per cent of unpaid care work, and the climate change burden will make that heavier,” he said.
The undervaluation of paid work in sectors dominated by women was also highlighted: “If we consider that our elderly are treasurers, then we should pay our people who take care of the elderly a little bit more. If we consider that our children are the future, then we should pay our women who take care, and they’re predominantly women, a little bit more.”
Isiuwa Iyahen, head of office with UN Women’s Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean, echoed the call for action. She recalled Caribbean women’s long struggle against systemic barriers: “From teachers in the 1930s forced to resign upon marriage, to civil servants dismissed for pregnancy as late as the 1980s… pioneers like Andaiye, Peggy Antrobus, Hazel Brown and others forged a feminist movement that reshaped laws, policies, and public life.”
Despite significant progress, disparities remain entrenched. Across the region, over 50 laws now combat gender-based violence, and 45 gender policies have been enacted. Girls enjoy record literacy and school enrollment rates. Women represent 55 per cent of the labour force and lead 27 per cent of firms. Yet Barbadian women earn just 86 to 87 per cent of men’s wages, and surveys show up to half of women with partners experience intimate-partner violence. Women also perform two to three times more unpaid care work than men, constraining their economic opportunities.
“Laws alone are insufficient—financing, implementation, and cultural change remain urgent,” Iyahen said. (SZB)
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