ABSTRACT

Existing research suggests that women spend a disproportionate amount of time on unpaid housework and childcare compared to men. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on unequal time burdens due to childcare among women. This study analyses the quantum of time poverty and multitasking behaviours of 3623 rural women with children of varying ages across rural North India. Findings show that mothers with infants spend more time on childcare and less time on self-care and leisure, and employment-related activities as compared to mothers with older children; they also multitask with childcare more than mothers of older children across all their daily activities. Our findings suggest that interventions and policies need to be designed to raise awareness, identify/adopt novel approaches and technologies to reduce work burden of unpaid work on women’s time, provide accessible childcare and encourage a more equitable distribution of household responsibilities.

摘要

现有研究表明，与男性相比，女性在无偿家务和育儿方面花费的时间比例不成比例。但是，缺乏关于妇女育儿所造成的时间不均的经验证据。这项研究分析了北印度农村地区3623名有不同年龄子女的农村妇女的时间贫困和多任务行为。研究结果表明，与有年长子女的母亲相比，有婴儿的母亲在儿童保育上花费的时间更多，在自我护理和休闲以及与就业有关的活动上花费的时间更少；在所有日常活动中，他们的育儿任务多于大孩子的母亲。我们的调查结果表明，需要设计干预措施和政策来提高意识，