Topics Covered: Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
NSO time-use survey:
Context:
The National Statistical Office (NSO), which is a wing of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has conducted the first Time Use Survey (TUS) in India during January to December 2019.
About the Survey:
- The primary objective is to measure participation of men and women in paid and unpaid activities.
- It is an important source of information on the time spent in unpaid caregiving activities, volunteer work, unpaid domestic service producing activities of the household members.
- It also provides information on time spent on learning, socializing, leisure activities, self-care activities, etc., by the household members.
Average time spent:
- Average Indian woman spends 243 minutes, a little over four hours, on these , which is almost ten times the 25 minutes the average man does.
- An average Indian woman spends 19.5% of her time engaged in either unpaid domestic work or unpaid care-giving services.
- Men spend just 2.5% of a 24-hour period on these activities. In every other group of activities – from employment and learning to socializing, leisure, and self-care activities like sleeping and eating – men spend a higher share of their daily time than women.
- There seems to be an inverse relationship between age and the amount of time spent by women on household chores, but a direct one between age and the time spent by men on these.
- While women above the age of 60 see a sharp fall in their domestic work burden, men tend to devote a greater time to domestic work when they cross 60.
Other Key findings:
- Total percentage of employed population: As much as 2 per cent of persons who were of the age of six years or above were engaged in employment and related activities in the country in 2019.
- Proportion of males and females: 57.3 per cent males were engaged in employment and related activities while the proportion was 18.4 per cent for females in the country.
- Women in rural areas: In rural areas, the proportion of women engaged in employment and related activities was higher at 19.2 per cent compared to 16.7 per cent in cities.
- Gainful employment: Proportion of males above the age of six years engaged in gainful employment or related activities was higher in cities at 59.8 compared 56.1 per cent in rural areas.
- Unpaid domestic services: 53.2 per cent of participants in the survey were engaged in unpaid domestic services for household members. The proportion of females in the category was higher at 81.2 per cent compared to 26.1 per cent for males. This figure for both men and women is higher in rural areas.
- People engaged in production of goods for own final use: 1 per cent in the country. The proportion of such males was 14.3 per cent while it was 20 per cent for women in the country.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- About NSO.
- About the National Statistical Commission.
- Key findings of the NSO time-use survey.
Mains Link:
As per NSO survey, there seems to be an inverse relationship between age and the amount of time spent by women on household chores, but a direct one between age and the time spent by men on these. Discuss why.
Sources: PIB.
