Women across South India continue to shoulder the vast majority of unpaid domestic and caregiving work, despite economic development and higher levels of education, according to the Time Use Survey 2024.
The survey, conducted across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, shows women spend an average of six hours and 58 minutes per day on unpaid work at home. In contrast, men spend just two hours and 48 minutes.
The gender gap remains significant even in states often lauded for their progressive social indicators.
“This is not a matter of choice but a direct consequence of the overwhelming domestic responsibilities thrust upon women,” Debomita Mukherjee, a Research Scholar at the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of Hyderabad, told South First.
“What we are seeing is essentially a forced allocation of women’s time,” she said.
“The time women ‘save’ from paid work is not free time – it is forcibly redirected to unpaid labour that props up the entire economic system without compensation.”
How the southern states compare
In Andhra Pradesh, women spend six hours and 59 minutes a day on unpaid work. Men contribute two hours and 50 minutes – a difference of four hours and nine minutes.
In Telangana, women average six hours and 56 minutes on unpaid work, compared with two hours and 42 minutes for men – a marginally wider gap of four hours and 14 minutes.
Karnataka records the widest gap. Women spend seven hours and 12 minutes on unpaid work daily, while men contribute only two hours and 41 minutes – a difference of four hours and 31 minutes.
In Kerala, which has some of India’s best social indicators, women spend seven hours and 13 minutes a day on unpaid work, the highest in the region. Men contribute three hours and one minute – also the highest male contribution – but the gap still stands at four hours and 12 minutes.
Tamil Nadu reports the lowest figures overall, with women spending six hours and 32 minutes on unpaid labour, and men two hours and 44 minutes. The resulting gender gap of three hours and 48 minutes is the narrowest among the five states.
The invisible workload
The Time Use Survey 2024 says ‘unpaid domestic services for household members’ as essential, uncompensated activities that support daily life.
These include:
- Cooking and meal preparation
- Cleaning and home maintenance
- Basic repairs and do-it-yourself tasks
- Washing clothes and footwear
- Shopping for household goods
- Travelling, moving or accompanying others to perform domestic tasks
Across all states, women perform the vast majority of this work.
In Andhra Pradesh, women spend four hours and 31 minutes a day on unpaid domestic tasks, while men do one hour and 33 minutes.
Telangana women average four hours and 26 minutes – over three times the male average of one hour and 20 minutes.
In Karnataka, the gender gap in this category is the widest: five hours and eight minutes for women versus one hour and 31 minutes for men.
Kerala shows relatively higher male involvement – women do four hours and 39 minutes of domestic tasks, men do one hour and 34 minutes.
In Tamil Nadu, the figures are lower overall: women spend four hours and eight minutes, men one hour and 23 minutes.
Meanwhile, researchers say the Time Use Survey 2024 leaves out one critical issue: the double shift many women face.
“While this report talks about the amount of time that women invest in unpaid labour and opens up a larger discussion about domestic work, it does not address the reality of the double shift,” Mukherjee said.
“Women who are engaged in paid labour are also expected to return home and perform another shift of unpaid work – childcare, care for the elderly, cooking, and other domestic responsibilities. This unpaid labour is in addition to their already precarious and underpaid jobs in the labour market,” she added.
Mukherjee also pointed to the class divide in how this labour is distributed.
“Women in high-paying jobs often have domestic helps to manage their household responsibilities, but working-class women must perform both paid and unpaid labour,” she said.
The burden of unpaid caregiving
Unpaid caregiving remains a critical but often overlooked part of household work, according to the Time Use Survey 2024. The report identifies five categories under this type of labour:
- Childcare and instruction: Caring for and educating children at home.
- Care for dependent adults: Attending to elderly or sick family members who require constant care.
- Help to non-dependent adults: Assisting adult household members with everyday tasks.
- Other caregiving activities: Includes managing medical needs, scheduling appointments, or emotional support.
- Travel and accompanying persons: Taking family members to school, hospitals, or other errands as part of caregiving.
These tasks require time, emotional effort and physical labour, most of which is undertaken by women without pay or formal recognition.
In Andhra Pradesh, women spend two hours and 28 minutes each day on unpaid caregiving, compared to one hour and 17 minutes for men. In Telangana, women average two hours and 30 minutes, while men contribute one hour and 22 minutes.
In Karnataka, caregiving time stands at two hours and four minutes for women, and one hour and 10 minutes for men. Though the total time is lower than in other states, the gender disparity remains.
Kerala shows comparatively greater male involvement in caregiving: women report two hours and 34 minutes daily, while men spend one hour and 27 minutes. The smaller gap suggests a gradual shift towards shared responsibilities.
In Tamil Nadu, women average two hours and 24 minutes in caregiving, while men contribute one hour and 21 minutes. While the overall burden is slightly less than in other states, the imbalance is consistent.
Time spent on paid work
The survey also records time spent on employment and related activities, including commuting and work breaks. Across all five southern states, men consistently dedicate more time to paid work than women. The gap ranges from 90 minutes to over two hours daily.
In Andhra Pradesh, men spend an average of eight hours and 31 minutes on employment-related tasks, compared to six hours and 53 minutes for women – a gap of one hour and 38 minutes.
In Telangana, men work for eight hours and 12 minutes, while women average six hours and 38 minutes – a difference of one hour and 34 minutes.
Karnataka, predictably, reports the largest disparity: men spend eight hours and 19 minutes on paid work, while women work for six hours and 29 minutes – a gap of one hour and 50 minutes. Combined with high unpaid workloads, this suggests a double burden for women.
Even in Kerala, known for its high human development indicators, men spend eight hours and 12 minutes on paid work compared to six hours and 42 minutes for women – a difference of one hour and 30 minutes.
Tamil Nadu shows the widest gap in the region. Men spend eight hours and 46 minutes daily on employment-related activities, while women average six hours and 45 minutes – a two-hour and one-minute gap.
Gender divide in unpaid work participation
Across all five states, women overwhelmingly perform unpaid work, ranging from cooking, cleaning, and caregiving, to managing household logistics. Female participation in unpaid work exceeds 84 percent in every state, while male participation lags significantly behind – between 35.2 percent to 55.3 percent.
In Andhra Pradesh, the gender gap is most pronounced: 85.5 percent of women participate in unpaid work compared to just 35.2 percent of men – a difference of 50.3 percentage points.
Karnataka shows a 39-point gap, with 84.6 percent of women and 45.6 percent of men involved in unpaid tasks. In Kerala, 85.4 percent of women and 55.3 percent of men perform unpaid work – the smallest gap in the region, though still substantial.
Telangana and Tamil Nadu follow the same trend, with women consistently overrepresented in unpaid domestic and caregiving responsibilities.
Despite this, female participation in paid employment remains lower than men’s in every state.
Telangana has the highest female labour force participation rate among the five, at 34.8 percent. In contrast, Kerala reports the lowest at 20 percent.
In Karnataka, just 25.6 percent of women are engaged in paid work, compared to 67 percent of men – one of the widest gaps in the region. In Andhra Pradesh, 30.6 percent of women work for pay – higher than Kerala and Karnataka, but still significantly below male participation.
Perhaps the most troubling of all the survey’s findings is the stagnation in women’s participation in unpaid labour over five years. In 2019, 84.0 percent of women reported engaging in unpaid work. In 2024, the figure remains virtually unchanged at 83.9 percent.
Meanwhile, women’s participation in paid activities has increased only marginally – from 17.1 percent in 2019 to 20.6 percent in 2024.
“The minimal progress we are seeing points to deep-rooted gender biases that restrict women’s entry into the labour market,” said Mukherjee.
“Cultural expectations that women’s time belongs to the household rather than themselves continue to dominate both rural and urban settings,” she added.