Increase in Male Employment by 4% Over 5 Years: Time Use Survey
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Synopsis
The all-India Time Use Survey shows a notable increase in male employment by 4 percentage points and female employment by 3 percentage points over the last five years, highlighting evolving labor dynamics in India. The survey also reveals changing patterns in unpaid domestic work and caregiving responsibilities.
Key Takeaways
- 75% of males and 25% of females aged 15-59 participated in employment in 2024.
- Unpaid domestic service time for females decreased from 315 to 305 minutes.
- 41% of females engaged in caregiving, compared to 21.4% of males.
- Children aged 6-14 spent about 413 minutes on learning activities.
- 11% of daily time was spent on leisure and cultural activities in 2024.
New Delhi, Feb 25 (NationPress) The percentage of men in paid employment has risen by over 4 percentage points, while the percentage of women in similar employment has increased by more than 3 percentage points, as per the all-India Time Use Survey released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Tuesday.
According to the survey, in 2024, 75 percent of males and 25 percent of females aged between 15 to 59 years engaged in employment and related activities during a 24-hour reference period. This marks an increase from 70.9 percent for males and 21.8 percent for females in 2019.
Female participants aged 15-59 years involved in unpaid domestic work spent approximately 315 minutes on these tasks in 2019, which has decreased to 305 minutes in 2024, indicating a transition from unpaid to paid work, according to the survey.
Furthermore, 41 percent of females aged 15-59 participated in caregiving for household members, while male participation in this age group was 21.4 percent.
On average, females engaged in caregiving activities spent about 140 minutes daily, whereas males in the same age group spent only 74 minutes. This reflects the traditional Indian social structure where caregiving responsibilities primarily fall on females, the survey notes.
The survey also highlights that 24.6 percent of the rural population aged 15-59 engaged in the production of goods for personal use, dedicating 121 minutes per day to these tasks.
Moreover, 89.3 percent of children aged 6-14 were involved in learning activities, spending about 413 minutes daily on such pursuits.
Individuals aged 6 years and older allocated 11 percent of their daily time to cultural, leisure, mass media, and sports activities in 2024, compared to 9.9 percent in 2019.
In the 2024 Time Use Survey (TUS), respondents reported their activities in designated 30-minute slots, with a maximum of three activities, each performed for 10 minutes or more, being recorded. The data was collected for individuals aged 6 years and above over a 24-hour reference period.
The survey included 139,487 households (rural: 83,247 and urban: 56,240), gathering time use information from each member aged 6 years and over in the selected households.
The NSO conducted its inaugural all-India Time Use Survey from January to December 2019, with the current TUS, conducted from January to December 2024, being the second of its kind.
India is among the few nations, including Australia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the USA, and China, that conduct a National Time Use Survey to examine how individuals allocate their time across various daily activities.
The primary aim of the survey is to assess the participation rates of men and women in both paid and unpaid activities.
The TUS serves as a crucial resource for understanding time spent on unpaid caregiving, volunteer work, and domestic service activities by household members, as well as providing insights into time spent on learning, socializing, leisure, and self-care activities.
