What is a weekend? A view from the margins using Indian time-use data

Nicholas Li ()
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Nicholas Li: Department of Economics, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada

No 96, Working Papers from Toronto Metropolitan University, Department of Economics

Abstract: The concept of the "weekend" - a weekly recurring rest period - has been widely adopted in developing countries through colonialism and globalization of commerce. But in social contexts where incomes are low, where work often takes the form of precarious casual labour and/or household/own-account enterprise, and where female labour is mostly devoted to domestic activities, what exactly is a weekend? Who gets a weekend? Are weekends chosen by workers or employers and states? What do people do on the weekend? Are weekend non-work activities similar to non-work activities during the rest of the week or do they feature an important element of social coordination of leisure? I provide some answers to these questions using detailed time-use data from India that measure the rhythms of the work week for household members aged 6 and older and shed light on how weekends vary with respect to individual, household and regional characteristics. I also discuss some normative implications of "weekends" for leisure and gender inequality.

Keywords: time-use, leisure; labour supply; time-use; India; coordination; self-employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J16 J22 O15 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2025-12
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