Why this is in the news

Fresh Time Use Survey findings show that about 84% of women in India took part in unpaid activities in 2024, far higher than men. Women continue to spend many more minutes each day on care of children, elders and the home. Experts are urging the government to study why women do this work — is it real choice or social duty — and to design policies that value care work, reduce drudgery, and expand women’s options for paid work.

What counts as “unpaid work”?

• Unpaid care work: Looking after children, the sick, persons with disability, and elders; cooking, cleaning, fetching water and fuel; accompanying family members to school, hospitals or offices; community care during festivals or crises.
  
• Domestic services for the household: Everyday chores that keep a home running.
  
• Time poverty: When a person has so many hours of unpaid duties that little time remains for rest, learning, leisure, or paid work.
  
• Labour Force Participation Rate: Share of people who are either working for pay or actively looking for paid work.
  
• Time Use Survey: A diary-based survey where people record every activity over a 24-hour period. It captures work that normal employment surveys miss.
  

What the latest numbers are telling us 

• Participation gap: Close to 84% of women reported unpaid work in 2024, far above men. By contrast, men were much more likely to be in paid work.
  
• Time gap: On days when caregiving is done, women spend well over two hours a day on care for household members; men spend about an hour or less.
  
• Age pattern: Among young women (15–29 years), unpaid care hours have risen in recent years. This matters because these are the years when skills are built and first jobs are taken.
  
• Urban–rural pattern: Both rural and urban women report high unpaid work, but rural women often have extra chores like collecting water or fuel.
  
• Multiple shifts: Women who are in paid jobs still do most unpaid chores at home. This “double shift” limits rest, health, and promotion prospects.
  

Why does unpaid work fall mostly on women?

1. Social norms: Housework and care are seen as a woman’s “duty”. Saying no invites blame. Boys are rarely trained to share chores.
   
2. Lack of services: Few affordable crèches, elder-care centres, after-school programs, or home-based support services. When the State or market does not provide care, families rely on women’s time.
   
3. Infrastructure gaps: In many places, water, sanitation, clean fuel, and transport are weak. Every gap adds unpaid hours.
   
4. Job design and safety: Long commutes, unsafe public spaces, irregular shifts, and lack of maternity support push women to drop out of paid work.
   
5. Pay and quality of jobs: If available jobs are poorly paid or insecure, families may decide the woman should stay home, especially when unpaid care needs are high.
   
6. Measurement bias: Regular jobs are counted; unpaid care is not. What we do not measure, we undervalue.
   

Why this matters for the economy and society

• Hidden subsidy: Unpaid care keeps households and the wider economy running. If it were priced, it would be worth a large share of national income.
  
• Lower female employment: Heavy unpaid work cuts the time and energy women have for paid jobs and for upgrading skills.
  
• Health and dignity: Long hours without rest hurt physical and mental health.
  
• Inter-generational effects: Daughters copy what they see. Sons who never do chores become men who do not share care.
  

Is it “choice” or “duty”? A simple way to think about it

A real choice needs three things:

1. Options (reliable care services, safe transport, decent jobs),
   
2. Voice (ability to decide within the family without fear), and
   
3. Value (society respects care work and paid work equally).
   

When these are missing, women’s “choice” to stay home is often duty in disguise.

What is the State already doing? 

• Water and fuel: Jal Jeevan Mission and clean-cooking fuel programs reduce time spent fetching water or fuel. Gap: service quality and refill affordability vary; in many villages women still queue daily.
  
• Food and early child care: The Integrated Child Development Services network and Anganwadi centres supply nutrition and pre-school learning. Gap: opening hours are short; crèche-like day care is limited.
  
• Maternity benefits: Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana gives cash support for the first birth. Gap: coverage is partial and payment amounts are small.
  
• Wage work near home: MGNREGA offers local wage work with equal pay. Gap: availability varies by district and season.
  
• Gender budgeting: The Union and several States tag funds for women-focused programs. Gap: budget tags do not always ensure outcomes on the ground.
  
• Data: The Time Use Survey is now more regular. Gap: We still lack monthly or quarterly data that tracks change quickly, and many welfare databases ignore unpaid care completely.
  

What should India do next? 

A) Reduce the need for unpaid hours

• Universal piped water, reliable power, and clean cooking fuel—with service quality that lasts.
  
• Public transport that is frequent, safe, and well-lit; sidewalks and last-mile options near work hubs.
  
• Digital and doorstep services (rations, pensions, health advice) to cut lines and travel.

B) Create care as a service

• A national crèche and after-school program in every panchayat and urban ward, run 8–10 hours, affordable or free for poor families.
  
• Community elder-care: day centres, respite care, trained home-care workers; pilot long-term care insurance for middle-class families.
  
• Care jobs as good jobs: train and certify caregivers; ensure safe working conditions and fair pay; allow cooperatives and start-ups to provide services.

C) Make paid work compatible with care

• Flexible hours and options for part-time work with social security.
  
• Parental leave for both mothers and fathers; encourage men’s leave so care is shared from day one.
  
• On-site crèches in factories, markets, offices, and large construction sites; strict inspection and penalties for non-compliance.
  
• Safe shift transport and grievance systems at workplaces.

D) Share care at home

• Cash-plus counselling through self-help groups and schools to normalise boys doing chores.
  
• Public campaigns that show men cooking, cleaning, and caregiving as normal and respected.

E) Count and value unpaid work

• Make the Time Use Survey annual; add short modules to other surveys.
  
• Publish State-wise dashboards on unpaid time and female employment.
  
• Explore a “satellite account” that values unpaid care in national accounts (for information, not for wages), so policy sees the full picture.

F) What can local administrators do right now?

• Map care deserts (no crèches, no elder-care, no day hospitals) and work with local bodies to fill them.
  
• Tie new industrial licences and building permits to crèche space, safe toilets, and lighting.
  
• Use district skill missions to train care workers; link them to welfare boards for social security.
  
• Co-design safe transport with police and bus operators on the routes and timings women actually use.
  
• Ask every school to run a “share the chores” week each term.
  

Exam hook

Key take-aways

• Most Indian women do large amounts of unpaid work; this limits time for paid jobs, rest and learning.
  
• The line between choice and duty is blurred when options, voice and value are missing.
  
• Existing schemes help, but service quality and coverage are uneven; crèches and elder-care are the biggest missing links.
  
• A practical plan: reduce unpaid hours (water, fuel, transport), create care services, make paid work compatible with care, share chores at home, and count unpaid work regularly.
  
• Treat care work as essential infrastructure for growth and dignity, not as invisible labour.
  

UPSC Mains question

“Women’s low labour force participation in India is less about unwillingness and more about time poverty.”
Explain with reference to recent Time Use Survey findings. Suggest a district-level action plan to reduce unpaid care hours and raise women’s access to decent paid work. Your plan should cover water and energy services, crèches and elder-care, safe transport, workplace standards, behaviour change, and better data. (250 words)

One-line wrap

When care is shared and services work, women gain time and choice — and the whole economy moves forward.