Women across all castes and income levels exhibit the same pattern in India.
The Tamil Nadu government started holding registration drives for the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam, or women’s basic income program, on July 24. The program will give eligible women in homes Rs 1,000 per month in order to “recognize women’s unpaid labor.” The Madras High Court ruled in June that wives have a right to an equal part of any household assets that the husband purchases. In most couples, the wife gives birth to, raises, and takes care of the home. She thereby frees her husband to pursue his business interests, the court had noted.
In addition to shedding light on the unpaid care and household work performed by women, the government and the court have also announced welfare measures and rendered decisions in their favor, recognizing their contribution. Household chores including cooking, cleaning, laundry, managing and maintaining the home, grocery shopping, watching children, and taking care of sick or elderly family members are all included in this type of job.
Unpaid Housework in India
Unpaid domestic and care work has been disproportionately carried out by Indian women. Regardless of their employment situation, data shows that married women spend more than seven hours a day on average doing this labor, compared to males who spend less than three hours. Women from all castes and income levels exhibit the same trend.
Additionally, the smaller the participation of women in the labor force, the greater the burden of domestic work. Despite the fact that the percentage of educated women has increased throughout this time, India’s female labor force participation rate (LFPR) has been dropping for more than 20 years.
Chart 1 | The graph shows the enrollment rate for females in Class 10 and the female LFPR in India since 1990. The percentage of girls who enroll in Class 10 as a proportion of all females in the population who are old enough to be in that grade is known as the enrolment rate.
Despite a rise in the Class 10 enrolment rate for girls from over 46% to 87% over the past two decades, the female LFPR has decreased from 30% to 24%.
Chart 2 | This graph contrasts India’s 2022 female LFPR with that of the other BRICS nations (with the exception of Russia) and a few South Asian nations.
India had the lowest female LFPR of any of these nations at 24%. In the group, India had the second-highest proportion of females. China, on the other hand, has the greatest female LFPR at 61% despite having the highest female population.
Chart 3 | This graph displays the average amount of time (in minutes) that men and women across employment groups spend each day performing unpaid domestic and caring duties.
The majority of women who are not in the labor force—those who are neither working nor looking for work—spend 457 minutes, or 7.5 hours per day, on unpaid domestic and care duties on average. Employed women spent 348 minutes, or 5.8 hours each day, not far behind. Men who are unemployed spend 3.5 hours a day on these tasks, more than two hours less than women who are employed. Men who have jobs spend 2.7 hours a day on these tasks, nearly three hours less than women who have jobs.
Chart 4 | The graph displays the average amount of time (in minutes) that men and women, according to their marital status, spend each day performing unpaid domestic and caring duties.
Compared to women who are widowed, divorced, separated (5.7 hours), or who have never married (4.3 hours), married women spend the greatest time working for free. However, compared to males who are widowed, divorced, separated, or have never been married (4.2 hours), married men spend the least amount of time on unpaid work (2.8 hours).
Source: World Bank, Time Use Survey (2019) by National Sample Survey Office
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