A quantitative measure of the value of unpaid household activities in India is attempted. The findings reveal that in 2022–23, women spent an average of 4.6 hours on domestic chores, which is more than double the 2.2 hours spent by men. Using replacement cost and gross opportunity cost approaches, the estimated value of unpaid household work in India ranged from 26% to 36% of gross domestic product in 2022–23. However, the impact on GDP remains uncertain, and these findings do not suggest that GDP would increase commensurately if unpaid household work were to be incorporated. The findings could be useful to improve the estimation of national income and to gauge the patterns in the value of uncompensated work among genders in India.
The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
A draft version of the paper was presented at the 42nd Conference of the Indian Association for Research in National Income and Wealth, held on 8–9 March 2024. The authors are thankful to the conference participants and the anonymous reviewer for valuable comments and suggestions.
The inclusion of unpaid household activities in the framework of national accounts has stirred interest among policymakers and academics for a long time. These activities mainly involve cleaning and cooking, fetching water and firewood, caring for the children and the elderly, taking care of the domesticated animals, shopping for the family members, and community services that are generally ignored in the measurement of national income. Since the release of the fourth edition of the System of National Accounts (SNA) in 1993, household production has been included in gross domestic product (GDP) calculations. The SNA 1993 suggested building satellite accounts to capture household production activities. The activities which can be “marketed” fall under the ambit of SNA activities and involve the production of goods mainly for the consumption of the household members.
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