Indian Women Spent Average 71 Mins a Day on Employment-related Activities: Time Use Survey 2024

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 26 February 2025

• Women spent average of 71 min per day on employment-related work; a 10-minute increase from 2019
• Both genders spent more time on unpaid caregiving activities in 2024

Time Use Survey (TUS) by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) shows that Indian women spent an average of 71 minutes per day on employment-related activities in 2024, a 10-minute increase from 2019. However, they spent less time on unpaid domestic services, bringing their total time to 236 minutes.

MoSPI 2024 further reports that men spend 287 minutes on employment-related activities, up from 263 minutes in 2019, while spending 24 minutes on unpaid domestic services for household members.

In 2024, 75 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women aged 15-59 engaged in employment and related activities, compared to 71.9 per cent and 21.8 per cent respectively in 2019. Both genders spent more time on unpaid caregiving activities, with women spending 27 per cent more time.

TUS 2024 collected data on time use for 6 years above individuals over 24 hours. Respondents reported activities in 30-minute slots, with three activities for 10 minutes or more. Women spent more time on culture, leisure, mass media, and sports practices in 2024 i.e. 148 minutes compared to 2019 (141 minutes)

In 2024, men and women spent less time on socializing, communication, community participation, and religious practice compared to 2019, but spent more time on culture, leisure, mass media, and sports practices.

The MoSPI conducted the first TUS in India from 2019 to 2024, aiming to measure men's and women's participation in paid and unpaid activities, making India one of the few countries to conduct such surveys.