Household Consumption and Division of Labour in India

Abstract

The study explores the relationship between economic conditions and the division of labour between men and women within households in India. It uses Time Use Survey data (2019) and uses bivariate and multivariate Tobit regression for analysis. There is a significant relation between the consumption level of households and time use, after controlling for individual- and household-level variables. An asymmetrical relation exists between economic condition of the household and the time-use pattern of the men and women members of the household. As the economic condition of the household declines, women spend more time on paid work, which is not offset by an equal fall in unpaid work time, leading to greater workload for them. Men’s time spent in paid work is less sensitive to the economic condition of the households, compared to women. Men’s unpaid household maintenance work time decreases when they belong to economically poor households, which is offset by allocating more time to essential activities such as collecting fuel and water. This leads to men's unpaid work time less sensitive to economic condition of the household. Other results are that the presence of preschool children leads to a rise in unpaid work time, while paid work time falls for women. The presence of male adolescents reduces paid work time significantly, while female adolescents reduce unpaid work time. Workload falls for urban women due to the reduction of unpaid work by reducing the time taken for home maintenance, fuel and water collection.