New Delhi: For the first time Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation conducted ‘Time Use Survey’ to show only 38.2% of the population participates in ’employment and other related activities’, spending 7 hours and 9 minutes that is 429 minutes on an each day.
Only 18.4% women participate in employment activities compared with 57% men, while men spend on an average 459 minutes (7 hours and 39 minutes), women spend only 333 minutes (5 hours and 33 minutes). This shows wide gender disparity The NSS report, ‘Time Use in India 2019’, whose findings were released Tuesday, has been conducted for the first time in the country.
The aim of the survey was to calculate the participation of men and women in paid and unpaid activities as well as measure the time dispositions required to perform these different activities. The survey was conducted between January 2019 and December 2019, around1.39 lakh households across the country consisting of 4.47 lakh persons over the age of six were the respondents of the survey.
The survey depicts the women participation in unpaid domestic services for household members – cooking, cleaning, household management – is as high as 81.2% each day compared to 26.1% for men. Women spend 299 minutes (almost 5 hours), thrice as much as men (97 minutes or 1 hour 37 minutes) doing household work or for that matter unpaid work.
The difference can also be felt in the time spent by men and women in care-giving activities to a dependent child or an adult. While only 14% of men participate in unpaid care giving services for household members spending on average 76 minutes a day (1 hour and 16 minutes), the share of women is double at 27.6 %. It spend more than two hours on care giving.
Only 2.4 % of the respondents volunteer for such work. This means Indians do not like unpaid work. The time spent on volunteering is around 101 minutes a day.
However, taking part in socialising and communication through chatting, conversing, community gatherings are very high with almost 91.3% of the respondents taking part in these activities each day, spending on an average around 143 minutes each day.
86.9 % of the participants spends average 165 minutes every day on watching TV, reading book or doing any activity which their hobby permits.