Women’s Participation in Domestic Duties and Paid Employment in India: The Missing Links

Ellina Samantroy ()
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Ellina Samantroy: Centre for Gender and Labour, V.V. Giri National Labour Institute (Under Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt. of India)

The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 2020, vol. 63, issue 2, No 11, 437-457

Abstract: Abstract The global estimates indicate a low participation of women in the labour force and prominent gender gap at 50 percentage points evidenced in regions like South Asia as reported by the International Labour Organization. Within the South Asian context, India has witnessed a decline in the female labour market participation from 34.1% in 1999–2000 to 27.2% in 2011–2012 as per the National Sample Survey Organization. Also, the domestic duties participation for women in India has increased. Women perform a large number of economic activities but most of their contributions remain underestimated with underreporting of women’s work. The present paper is contextualized within the emerging labour process theories to understand the gender differentials in employment trends in India. There is an attempt to analyse women’s unpaid work with specific emphasis on their participation in household and related activities (domestic duties), thereby exploring intra-household dynamics and role of socio-cultural norms in interpreting gender roles in the household. The paper engages with intersections of caste, marital status and household size to understand women’s constraints to participate in paid employment within the emerging labour processes in the contemporary society.

Keywords: Domestic duties; Unpaid work; Statistical invisibility; Labour process; Time use surveys (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s41027-020-00217-6

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