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India’s first Pan India time use survey has been released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

What is Time Use Survey (TUS)? 

• A time use survey measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, and socialising.
• The primary objective of a time use survey (TUS) is to measure participation of men and women in paid and unpaid activities.
• The “NSS Report- Time Use in India 2019” is the first such pan India survey conducted.
• It is a sample survey conducted between January and December 2019 in which 1.39 lakh households across the country and 4.47 lakh persons over the age of 6 were enumerated.

Important findings of the Report

• While the large chunk of paid work is done by men, unpaid work is largely done by women.
• Participation in paid employment: The participation rate of men in paid employment (jobs, farming, fishing, mining amongst other economic activities) is high.
  • Men: The participation of men is at 57.3 per cent.
  • Women: Women participation rate is only 18.4 per cent.
• Participation in unpaid work: When it comes to unpaid work (cooking food, cleaning, or unpaid caregiving like looking after a dependent child or an adult) the participation of women is very high.
  • Women:2 per cent women participate in unpaid domestic services spending an average 4 hours 59 minutes each day.
  • Men: The participation rate of men in domestic services is low at 26.1 per cent.

What kind of information is provided by the Index?

• TUS 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, socialising, leisure activities, self-care activities.

Global scenario

• Over the last three decades, a number of developed countries have been conducting time use surveys with increasing frequency.
  • The United States has been doing one annually since 2003.
  • Australia conducted its first full-scale national survey in 1992.
  • Canada has been doing it since 1961.
  • Germany, Austria, and Israel have also conducted these surveys.

The findings of these surveys are deemed to be helpful in drafting policies on poverty, gender equity and human development.