Indians Spent More Time At Work, Less On Self-Care: Time Use Survey

Indians spent more time at work and less on self-care and maintenance in 2024, according to the Time Use Survey released by the centre. The male and female (15-59 years old) participation in employment and related activities in a day increased to 75 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, from 70.9 per cent and 21.8 per cent in 2019, according to the government survey. On the other hand, the average time spent by Indians on self-care and maintenance declined by two per cent in the last five years.

Time Use Survey, first conducted in 2019, looks at the time disposition of both men and women on various paid and unpaid activities. This includes unpaid domestic services for household members, caregiving activities, volunteer work, and training. It also provides information on time spent on employment and related activities, learning, socialising, leisure activities and self-care among others.

The latest Time Use Survey conducted during January – December 2024 is the second such national survey. It covered 4.54 lakh individuals aged six and above, from 1.39 lakh households.

Here are the key findings of the survey:

1. 41 per cent of Indians aged six and above participated in employment and related activities in 2024, an increase of nearly 3 percentage points from 2019. On average, Indians spend 440 minutes a day on employment.
2. The average time spent on unpaid domestic services was 129, a two per cent decline from 2019. While females spent 289 minutes on average in a day in unpaid domestic services for household members, males spent 88 minutes.
3. Males spent 75 minutes in a day caring for their household members while females spent nearly double the time (137 minutes).
4. 89.3 per cent of children aged 6-14 years engaged in learning activities and spent 413 minutes through the day on such activities.
5. 171 minutes on average in a day was spent in activities related to culture, leisure and mass media use by persons aged 6 years and above. Male and female participants spent 177 minutes and 164 minutes respectively in a day on such activities.
6. Indians spent five minutes less on socialising and communicating, community participation and religious practice in 2014, than 130 minutes spent a day in 2019.