Across Ghana, countless women are carrying responsibilities that extend far beyond their own immediate needs, often becoming the financial backbone of families while simultaneously trying to build careers, pursue education and secure their own economic independence.
But as the demands placed on women continue to grow, the NPP Loyal Ladies are asking a question that touches the heart of Ghana’s household economy: Who is supporting the women who are supporting everyone else?
The question has emerged from concerns over the largely invisible financial and social pressures confronting women who have increasingly become providers for children, siblings, parents and other relatives.
For many Ghanaian women, a monthly salary or business income is effectively committed before it even arrives.
School fees may be waiting. Household bills have to be paid. A sibling may need financial assistance. An ageing parent may require care. In some cases, these responsibilities begin when women are still students, forcing them to balance their own education with the survival needs of their families.
The expectation is often simple: find a way to make it work.
But according to the concerns raised by NPP Loyal Ladies, the bigger question is how sustainable such pressure can be when one woman is expected to carry the needs of an entire family.
THE WOMAN BEHIND THE HOUSEHOLD SAFETY NET
The organisation’s intervention draws attention to a part of Ghana’s economy that is rarely captured fully in conventional statistics.
Families often survive because relatives support one another when times become difficult. Within that informal safety net, women frequently play a central role.
When a relative loses employment, they contribute. When children need school fees, they step in. When an elderly parent needs assistance, they provide care or money.
This culture of family support remains an important feature of Ghanaian society.
However, the same system can place enormous financial pressure on women whose earnings are repeatedly divided among several dependants.
A woman may therefore be earning an income without necessarily becoming financially secure.
After supporting several family members, there may be little left for savings, further education, acquiring property, starting a business or investing for retirement.
The paradox is striking: the very woman helping to keep the family financially stable may be sacrificing the resources required to secure her own future.
THE EDUCATION COST OF FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY
The pressure can become particularly damaging for young women.
For a student already struggling to finance her education, family emergencies can force difficult choices.
Money that could have been used for tuition, accommodation, books or other educational needs may instead be redirected towards a sibling, parent or household expense.
Over time, those sacrifices can affect whether a young woman remains in school, completes her education or acquires the skills needed to compete in the labour market.
The issue, therefore, extends beyond individual families.
If women are unable to complete their education or develop economically because of responsibilities placed on them at home, the consequences can eventually affect the country’s productivity and human-capital development.
The debate is consequently not only about whether Ghanaian women are gaining access to education, but whether they have the support necessary to remain in school and progress.
WHY CHILDCARE IS MORE THAN A FAMILY MATTER
For mothers who work or want to enter the workforce, another major challenge is childcare.
Securing employment does not automatically translate into economic independence if a woman has no safe, reliable and affordable means of caring for her children.
Where childcare is unavailable or too expensive, some women may be forced to turn down employment opportunities, reduce their working hours or remain outside the labour market altogether.
That makes childcare an economic issue as much as a social one.
When women are prevented from working because of caregiving responsibilities, households lose potential income while the wider economy loses productive labour.
The concerns raised by NPP Loyal Ladies therefore place childcare among the broader policy issues that must be considered when discussing women’s economic empowerment.
WHEN ‘RESILIENCE’ BECOMES A BURDEN
Ghanaian women are frequently celebrated for their resilience.
Women who work, raise children, support relatives and survive difficult economic circumstances are often praised for their ability to endure.
But the organisation’s argument raises a deeper concern: can constant resilience conceal financial vulnerability?
A woman may continue working, borrowing, sacrificing and meeting family obligations without ever describing herself as being in crisis.
From the outside, her household may appear stable.
Behind the scenes, however, she may have little savings, few assets and almost no financial cushion to absorb an unexpected emergency.
That creates a dangerous situation in which the person everyone depends on may herself have nowhere to turn when a crisis arrives.
THE QUESTIONS POLICYMAKERS MUST ANSWER
The concerns raised by NPP Loyal Ladies also expose gaps in how women’s economic contribution is understood.
How many Ghanaian women are financially responsible for multiple dependants?
How many have postponed or abandoned education because of family obligations?
How many are unable to accept employment because they cannot afford childcare?
How many women earn an income that is immediately consumed by supporting other family members?
These questions require more than traditional employment statistics to answer.
A woman may be classified as employed, for example, without the figures showing how much of her income is being transferred to relatives or spent on unpaid care responsibilities.
Understanding the full picture would require policymakers to examine not only whether women work, but also the responsibilities they carry outside their formal economic activities.
FROM PRAISING WOMEN TO SUPPORTING THEM
The central argument from NPP Loyal Ladies is that Ghana’s conversation about women must move beyond celebrating their ability to survive difficult circumstances.
Resilience is valuable, but it should not become an excuse for failing to address the structural pressures that force women to carry unsustainable burdens.
Education, skills development, decent employment, childcare, social protection and access to capital can all determine whether a woman remains trapped in a cycle of meeting immediate family needs or gains the opportunity to build lasting financial security.
The issue also involves recognising unpaid care work, which keeps households functioning but can limit women’s ability to work, study, save and invest.
WHO HOLDS UP THE WOMAN HOLDING GHANA TOGETHER?
The intervention by NPP Loyal Ladies has placed a difficult question at the centre of the national conversation.
Ghanaian women are often expected to become caregivers, providers and the first line of defence whenever a family faces financial difficulty.
But if the woman providing the family’s safety net has no safety net of her own, the entire household remains vulnerable.
The question, therefore, goes beyond political slogans or women’s empowerment campaigns.
Who supports the woman supporting everyone else?
It is a question that must be confronted by families, policymakers, employers and society as a whole.
Because when the woman carrying the household becomes financially exhausted, the consequences do not stop with her.
They can affect the children whose education she is financing, the relatives who depend on her income, the elderly parents she cares for and, ultimately, the economic strength of the wider society.
The challenge for Ghana is no longer simply to praise women for holding families together.
It is to build systems strong enough to hold up the women who have been holding everybody else up.
By Lawrencia Entsuah
