Gender Gap Revealed: Women’s Unpaid Household Work Surpasses Men by 201 Minutes

The Time Use Survey 2024, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), reveals notable gender disparities in unpaid domestic and caregiving activities in India. While the time spent by women on unpaid domestic services decreased by 10 minutes, bringing the total to 289 minutes per day in 2024, they still spent 201 more minutes on these tasks than their male counterparts.

The survey shows that women dedicated an average of 137 minutes daily to unpaid caregiving activities, compared to 75 minutes for men, indicating a gender gap of 62 minutes. Overall, females aged 15-59 years spent a substantial 305 minutes on unpaid household work, even as this figure fell by 10 minutes from 315 minutes in 2019.

Participation in caregiving tasks was significantly higher among women, with 41% of females aged 15-59 engaged in such activities compared to just 21.4% of men. The ministry noted, “This corroborates the Indian social fabric wherein most caregiving responsibilities are borne by females.” Unpaid activities encompass care for children, the elderly, and disabled individuals, among other domestic tasks.

In contrast, men outpaced women in paid employment, spending 473 minutes daily compared to 341 minutes for women. Despite the inequalities in unpaid work, the participation rate of women in paid activities increased from 17.1% in 2019 to 20.6% in 2024, while men’s participation rose to 60.5% from 54.8%.

Both genders showed a reduction in time spent on learning activities. Males spent 415 minutes on learning in 2024, down from 426 minutes in 2019, while females spent 413 minutes, a decrease from 423 minutes. Children aged 6-14 years participated in learning activities for approximately 413 minutes daily, with a participation rate of 89.3% in 2024.

The survey, which included data from 454,192 individuals across 139,487 households (83,247 rural and 56,240 urban), indicates that while there are slight improvements in paid work participation, significant gender disparities remain in both unpaid domestic responsibilities and caregiving activities.