Why in News?

The Time Use Survey 2024 (January-December), released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation last week, confirms that women take on a lion's share of unpaid work.

What is the gender divide in domestic labor?

• Women’s unpaid work - Women perform over eight times the amount of unpaid work, valued at 15% to 17 %  of the GDP notionally.
• Participation gap in unpaid domestic services – While 81% of female participated in unpaid domestic services , it was just 21% of male.
• Contribution gap in unpaid  domestic services - 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.
• Participation gap in care giving - 41 % of females aged 15-59 years participated in caregiving for their household members, male participation in this age group in such caregiving was 21.4 %.
• Contribution gap in care giving - Female participants in caregiving activities spent about 140 minutes in a day, compared to 74 minutes spent by male participants.

What are the impacts of gender divide in domestic labour participation?

• Low Female Workforce Participation - Women spend almost five hours daily on unpaid work, which limits their ability to engage in formal employment.

India’s female labor force participation rate (FLFP) is 41.7%, compared to 78% for men (Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023-24).

• Job insecurity - Women engaged in unpaid work often enter low-paid, informal jobs with little job security.
• Wage gap - This structural inequality exacerbates wage gaps, with women earning significantly less than men for similar work.
• Wastage of human resources – Valuable ability and potential of educated and skilled women is kept unused in households.
• Affects skill development - The extensive hours spent on household responsibilities limits women ability to acquire additional qualifications.
• Reinforcement of gender roles - Traditional norms continue to associate women with domestic work and men with paid employment.
• Psychological and health burdens - The physical and mental toll of managing unpaid labor leads to burnout, stress, and health issues.

What can be done to bring equality?

• Inclusivity will have to begin with a re-imagination of the foundation of household dynamics.
• Dismantling the stereotype around the household work and encouraging shared domestic responsibilities.
• Incorporating unpaid work in GDP calculations to measure the economic value of household work.
• Invest in care economy, particularly in early childhood care and education  to increase the female labour force participation rate.
• Promoting behavioral change through campaigns like "Share the Load" (ariel) to successfully challenge gendered domestic roles.

Reference

The Indian Express | Women’s invisible labour

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