Women spend 7.2 hrs on unpaid home work in comparison with 2.8 hrs spent by males: IIMA prof’s analysis

By PTI

AHMEDABAD: Women within the working age class of 15 to 60 years spend 7.2 hours on unpaid home work in comparison with 2.8 hours spent by males, indicating they’ve “time poverty”, as per a analysis carried out by a professor from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

Even wage-earning girls spend twice the period of time on unpaid home work compared to wage-earning males in fulfilling fundamental wants of the family comparable to cleansing, making ready meals and caregiving, says the analysis which is predicated on the Time Use Survey (TUS) of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

Though it’s a recognized truth that girls spend extra time in unpaid family actions, the analysis paper “Time Use Data: A Tool for Gendered Policy Analysis”, claims that it for the primary time quantifies the time that girls in India spend on home work.

“The new thing about this survey is based on the first TUS by the NSSO, we can now point out the exact hours women in the working age category spend on unpaid domestic work. On an average, Indian women spend 7.2 hours of their daily time for such work while men spend 2.8 hours,” IIMA Prof Namrata Chindarkar informed PTI.

Over the years, time use information has gained significance as a device to look at gender inequality.

Studies primarily based on harmonised time use surveys carried out in Europe reveal that point use information have been instrumental in understanding the allocation of time between ladies and men throughout numerous actions, she mentioned.

“These studies particularly find that, across countries, women spend more time on fulfilling basic needs of the household such as cleaning, preparing meals and caregiving,” Chindarkar mentioned.

“The TUS conducted by the NSSO in 2019 is the first national time use survey for India (with the exception of Andaman and Nicobar Islands). It collects data using a 24-hour time diary (4 am to 4 am the next day) on a normal day of the week,” she added.

The paper has examined the TUS information to evaluate whether or not expectations from gender roles form the allocation of time between women and men in India.

It additional finds out that “even wage-earning women spend twice the amount of time on unpaid domestic work in comparison to wage-earning men”.

It additionally says that “men spend nearly 150 minutes more per day on paid employment relative to women.”

“By itself, the average time spent on activities does not provide a sense of severity of the time burden. To capture the severity, we examine time poverty,” Chindarkar mentioned.

She mentioned they measure time poverty when it comes to overwork primarily based on the OECD definition of working greater than 50 hours per week.

“We find that women are 24 per cent more likely to have less leisure time in comparison to men. In contrast, we find that wage-earning men are 72 per cent more likely to be overworked compared to wage-earning women. This could plausibly be because of the differences in the nature of jobs and occupations held by men and women,” the analysis paper mentioned.

The analyses spotlight sure gendered patterns. A higher proportion of ladies’s time is dedicated to fulfilling home duties regardless of their employment standing.

For girls in employment, this usually leads to a “second shift”, it mentioned.

It is now a stylised incontrovertible fact that efficient public companies, comparable to entry to electrical energy and clear cooking power, can alleviate girls’s time burden.

However, the analysis paper finds that the magnitude of this distinction is small.

The TUS information means that, on a mean, girls in households that use LPG or different clear cooking fuels spend much less time on home unpaid actions, which incorporates meal preparation time, in comparison with these utilizing conventional fuels.

“We observe that girls in households that use LPG or different clear cooking fuels take pleasure in a further leisure time of 41 to 80 minutes in comparison with these utilizing conventional fuels,” the analysis mentioned.

Looking once more on the TUS information, people who reported that electrical energy is the first supply of lighting for the family, reported, on a mean, much less time spent on home unpaid actions.

For girls, the time spent on home actions was much less by round 20 minutes, it mentioned.

“In addition, the average time spent on leisure by women in households having electricity as primary source of lighting was about 35 minutes more compared to those not having electricity as their primary source of lighting,” it mentioned.

The analysis paper prompt that TUS can be utilized successfully to type authorities insurance policies for ladies.

“As observed from our analysis, by pointing to how women and men allocate their time on various activities, time use data can enhance our understanding of the effects of social norms and gender roles. The time use data can therefore form an effective feedback loop to strengthen policy design,” it mentioned.

AHMEDABAD: Women within the working age class of 15 to 60 years spend 7.2 hours on unpaid home work in comparison with 2.8 hours spent by males, indicating they’ve “time poverty”, as per a analysis carried out by a professor from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

Even wage-earning girls spend twice the period of time on unpaid home work compared to wage-earning males in fulfilling fundamental wants of the family comparable to cleansing, making ready meals and caregiving, says the analysis which is predicated on the Time Use Survey (TUS) of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

Though it’s a recognized truth that girls spend extra time in unpaid family actions, the analysis paper “Time Use Data: A Tool for Gendered Policy Analysis”, claims that it for the primary time quantifies the time that girls in India spend on home work.

“The new thing about this survey is based on the first TUS by the NSSO, we can now point out the exact hours women in the working age category spend on unpaid domestic work. On an average, Indian women spend 7.2 hours of their daily time for such work while men spend 2.8 hours,” IIMA Prof Namrata Chindarkar informed PTI.

Over the years, time use information has gained significance as a device to look at gender inequality.

Studies primarily based on harmonised time use surveys carried out in Europe reveal that point use information have been instrumental in understanding the allocation of time between ladies and men throughout numerous actions, she mentioned.

“These studies particularly find that, across countries, women spend more time on fulfilling basic needs of the household such as cleaning, preparing meals and caregiving,” Chindarkar mentioned.

“The TUS conducted by the NSSO in 2019 is the first national time use survey for India (with the exception of Andaman and Nicobar Islands). It collects data using a 24-hour time diary (4 am to 4 am the next day) on a normal day of the week,” she added.

The paper has examined the TUS information to evaluate whether or not expectations from gender roles form the allocation of time between women and men in India.

It additional finds out that “even wage-earning women spend twice the amount of time on unpaid domestic work in comparison to wage-earning men”.

It additionally says that “men spend nearly 150 minutes more per day on paid employment relative to women.”

“By itself, the average time spent on activities does not provide a sense of severity of the time burden. To capture the severity, we examine time poverty,” Chindarkar mentioned.

She mentioned they measure time poverty when it comes to overwork primarily based on the OECD definition of working greater than 50 hours per week.

“We find that women are 24 per cent more likely to have less leisure time in comparison to men. In contrast, we find that wage-earning men are 72 per cent more likely to be overworked compared to wage-earning women. This could plausibly be because of the differences in the nature of jobs and occupations held by men and women,” the analysis paper mentioned.

The analyses spotlight sure gendered patterns. A higher proportion of ladies’s time is dedicated to fulfilling home duties regardless of their employment standing.

For girls in employment, this usually leads to a “second shift”, it mentioned.

It is now a stylised incontrovertible fact that efficient public companies, comparable to entry to electrical energy and clear cooking power, can alleviate girls’s time burden.

However, the analysis paper finds that the magnitude of this distinction is small.

The TUS information means that, on a mean, girls in households that use LPG or different clear cooking fuels spend much less time on home unpaid actions, which incorporates meal preparation time, in comparison with these utilizing conventional fuels.

“We observe that girls in households that use LPG or different clear cooking fuels take pleasure in a further leisure time of 41 to 80 minutes in comparison with these utilizing conventional fuels,” the analysis mentioned.

Looking once more on the TUS information, people who reported that electrical energy is the first supply of lighting for the family, reported, on a mean, much less time spent on home unpaid actions.

For girls, the time spent on home actions was much less by round 20 minutes, it mentioned.

“In addition, the average time spent on leisure by women in households having electricity as primary source of lighting was about 35 minutes more compared to those not having electricity as their primary source of lighting,” it mentioned.

The analysis paper prompt that TUS can be utilized successfully to type authorities insurance policies for ladies.

“As observed from our analysis, by pointing to how women and men allocate their time on various activities, time use data can enhance our understanding of the effects of social norms and gender roles. The time use data can therefore form an effective feedback loop to strengthen policy design,” it mentioned.