NSO Report: Indian Women Bear The Brunt Of Household Work

The National Statistical Office (NSO) released its maiden 'Time Use in India report for 2019' on Tuesday, based on the survey of anyone over the age of six in 138,000 selected households. The report underlined an important facet of Indian households: Indian women endure the brunt of household tasks and domestic chores.

The NSO conducted the survey between January and December of 2019. As per the report, the average Indian woman dedicates 243 minutes (around four hours) per day to domestic activities. On the contrary, the average man does 25 minutes' worth of household chores every day. Furthermore, men can spend more time on activities like working, studying and self-care than women on a daily basis as they do fewer domestic chores.

Also Read: Women Salaried Workers See Higher Growth Than Men: NSO Report

What You Should Know: 

• The National Statistical Office (NSO) released its maiden 'Time Use in India report for 2019' on Tuesday. 
• The report highlighted that Indian women endure the brunt of household tasks and domestic chores.
• Statistically, an average Indian woman devotes 19.5 percent of her time daily to unpaid domestic work or care-giving services. Men devote just 2.5 per cent on the same. 
• Furthermore, as men spend less time on household chores, they get more time than women for activities like working, studying and self-care on a daily basis. 

Also Read: Subarna Ghosh’s Petition Urges PM Modi To Tell Indian Men To Do Equal Share Of Household Chores

Women Do The Heavy Lifting In Indian Households

Statistically, an average Indian woman devotes 19.5 per cent of her time daily to unpaid domestic work or care-giving services. The figure is almost ten times the percentage of time spent by an average man on the same. Even in terms of participation, 81 percent of women do domestic chores, compared to just 26 per cent of men.

Other Key Takeaways From The Report

The report also mentions an inverse relationship between age and time spent by women on household chores - women above the age of 60 see a sharp fall in their burden of domestic work. Conversely, there is a direct relationship between age and the time spent by men on household tasks. Overall, men tend to devote greater time to domestic work when they cross the age of 60. Some people believe the less burden on women after 60 could also be attributed to older women passing on the workload to their younger bahus after a certain age.

Additionally, the report includes a gender-based division of responsibilities within domestic work. Women tend to engage in activities like cooking and cleaning while men take care of shopping for household items. The urban-rural divide exists in the context of women’s use of time as well. In general, rural women do more of paid or unpaid work while urban women participate in learning, socialising, or leisure activities.

Also Read: 5 Reasons Why Household Work Should Be Everyone’s Responsibility

Tarini Gandhiok is an intern with SheThePeople.TV