Women spend 7.2 hrs doing unpaid domestic work compared to men, who spend 2.8 hrs: IIMA study

The research, based on the Time Use Survey (TUS) of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), revealed that wage-earning women spend twice as much time on unpaid domestic work as wage-earning men do taking care of basic household needs like cleaning, cooking, and caring for children.

Following the latest study by a professor at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, "Women in the working age category of 15 to 60 years spend 7.2 hours on unpaid domestic work compared to 2.8 hours spent by men, revealing they have time poverty."

The research, based on the Time Use Survey (TUS) of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), revealed that wage-earning women spend twice as much time on unpaid domestic work as wage-earning men do to taking care of basic household needs like cleaning, cooking, and caring for children.

Though it is common knowledge that women spend more time on unpaid household activities, the research paper Time Use Data: A Tool for Gendered Policy Analysis claims that it quantifies the time women in India spend on domestic work for the first time.

The new feature of this survey is based on the NSSO's first TUS; IIMA Prof Namrata Chindarkar, while talking to PTI, said, "We can now pinpoint the exact hours that women of working age spend on unpaid domestic work. Women in India spend 7.2 hours of their daily time on such work, compared to 2.8 hours for men."

The use of time in data has become important for studying gender inequality. She explained that time use data has been instrumental in understanding the allocation of time between men and women across various activities, according to studies based on harmonised time use surveys conducted in Europe. 

"These studies show that, across countries, women spend more time fulfilling basic household needs like cleaning, preparing meals, and caring for children," Chindarkar added.

"The NSSO's 2019 TUS is India's first-ever national time-use survey (except for Andaman and Nicobar Islands). On a typical weekday, it collects data using a 24-hour time diary (4:00 am to 4:00 am the next day)," She continued. 

The paper examined TUS data to determine whether gender roles shape the time allocation between men and women in India. It also finds that even wage-earning women spend twice as much time on unpaid domestic work as wage-earning men. It also claims that 'men spend nearly 150 minutes more per day on paid work than women.'

The average time spent on activities by itself does not convey the gravity of the time burden. To assess the severity, Chindarkar said we study time poverty. She also explained that they measure time poverty in terms of overwork, defined by the OECD as working more than 50 hours per week.

"We discover that women are 24 per cent more likely than men to report having less leisure time. In contrast, we find that wage-earning men are 72 per cent more likely than wage-earning women to be overworked." As per the document, this could be due to differences in jobs and occupations held by men and women.

The analysis is also based on certain gendered patterns. Regardless of their employment status, women devote much of their time to domestic responsibilities. The report revealed this frequently results in women working a second shift.

Effective public services, including access to electricity and clean cooking energy, are now a stylised fact that can alleviate women's time burden. However, the magnitude of this difference is small in the research paper.

The TUS data further highlight women in households that use LPG or other clean cooking fuels spend less time on unpaid domestic activities, like meal preparation, than those that use traditional fuels. According to the analysis, women in households that use LPG or other clean cooking fuels have 41 to 80 minutes more leisure time than those who use traditional fuels.

Looking at the TUS data again, individuals who reported that electricity is the household's primary lighting source reported spending less time on unpaid domestic activities on average. According to the study, women spent approximately 20 minutes less on domestic activities.

Furthermore, the study revealed that the average time spent on leisure by women in households with electricity as the primary lighting source was approximately 35 minutes longer than in households without electricity as the primary lighting source. According to the research paper, TUS can effectively shape government policies for women.

The findings revealed time-use data could help us better understand the effects of social norms and gender roles by highlighting how women and men allocate their time to different activities. According to the report, time-use data can thus form an effective feedback loop to strengthen policy design.

(With inputs from PTI)