What Explains Gender Gap in Unpaid Household and Care Work in India?

TL;DR

This study analyzes the gender gap in unpaid household and care work in India using 2019 Time Use Survey data, highlighting that unobserved gender norms primarily drive the disparity beyond socioeconomic factors.

Contribution

It provides the first systematic analysis of the gender gap in unpaid work in India, emphasizing the role of gender norms over observable socioeconomic differences.

Findings

Women spend significantly more time on unpaid work than men.

Socioeconomic and demographic differences do not fully explain the gender gap.

Unobserved gender norms are the key determinants of unpaid work allocation.

Abstract

Due to the unavailability of nationally representative data on time use, a systematic analysis of the gender gap in unpaid household and care work has not been undertaken in the context of India. The present paper, using the recent Time Use Survey (2019) data, examines the socioeconomic and demographic factors associated with variation in time spent on unpaid household and care work among men and women. It analyses how much of the gender gap in the time allocated to unpaid work can be explained by differences in these factors. The findings show that women spend much higher time compared to men in unpaid household and care work. The decomposition results reveal that differences in socioeconomic and demographic factors between men and women do not explain most of the gender gap in unpaid household work. Our results indicate that unobserved gender norms and practices most crucially govern the allocation of unpaid work within Indian households.