Opinion Women’s invisible labour and the dreams of Viksit Bharat

The Time Use Survey 2024 (January-December), released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation last week, reiterates what has long been an open secret: Despite incremental changes, women spend more time in unpaid industry at home compared to men. In 2024, women spent 289 minutes a day on unpaid domestic services, 10 minutes less than in 2019, but still 201 minutes more than men. Women also spent 62 more minutes on unpaid caregiving, averaging 137 minutes every day, up from 134 minutes in 2019. In addition, women also spent about 140 minutes a day on caregiving, compared to 75 minutes for men, with 41 per cent of women and 21.4 per cent of men aged 15-59 years participating in caregiving activities.

This gendered division of labour has a cascading effect on women’s long-term economic mobility and workplace equality. The extensive hours spent on household responsibilities leave women with limited time and energy to pursue paid work. It also limits their ability to acquire additional qualifications. They are more likely to work in low-paid, part-time or informal jobs, often with fewer benefits and job security. This structural inequality exacerbates wage gaps, with women earning significantly less than men for similar work. In its report, ‘The impact of care responsibilities of women’s labour participation’, published in October 2024, the ILO argued for investment in the country’s care economy, particularly in early childhood care and education, given the fact that India has 53 per cent of women outside the labour force. Although women’s participation has grown substantially – 41.7 per cent as per data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023-24 — they still account for a much smaller proportion of the total labour force. Men’s labour force participation rate stands at around 78 per cent.

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In a country spurred by dreams of Viksit Bharat and women-led development, the repercussions of this disparity risk being both economic and social. According to a study by Karmannaya Counsel, CII and Nikore Associates, published in March 2024, women perform over eight times the amount of unpaid work, valued at 15 per cent to 17 per cent of the GDP notionally. Inclusivity will have to begin with a re-imagination of the foundation of household dynamics. Far too often, even the minimum of work done by men around the house are lauded as largesse while women are put in their place for not being the “breadwinner”. Dismantling this stereotype would be a good place to begin.