Abstract WP25-01

Accounting for Unpaid Care Work in India: National Time Transfer Accounts Analysis

• Aparna Roy (Corresponding author. E-mail: aparnaroy1202@gmail.com), Ph.D. scholar, Department of Family and Generations, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India. ORCID Id: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4529-532X
• T. V. Sekher, Professor & Head, Department of Family and Generations, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India

Abstract

Economic flows from unpaid care work/home-produced services fall outside the national accounts production boundary, systematically understating women’s economic contributions, as they predominantly contribute to household production. This study accounts for unpaid care workflows for men and women in time and monetary units, estimating its economic value in India. Using the National Time Transfer Accounts (NTTA) methodology, data from Time Use Survey 2019, and Periodic Labour Force Survey 2019-2020, we estimate the profiles of production, consumption, and transfers of unpaid care work across all ages. A significant gender differential was observed in the age profiles of unpaid care workers. Women specialize in unpaid care work production, while men specialize in paid work. Women are net givers of unpaid care work from age 16 to age 79, while men are net beneficiaries across all ages. Women of reproductive age are the prime givers, and young children are the prime receivers of unpaid care. The monetary profiles of these activities mirror the time-based profiles. The study thus accounts for the unequal unpaid care burden in India on women from a generational economy perspective using NTTA, highlighting the importance of addressing this for achieving generational justice and gender equity.

Keywords: Unpaid care work; time use; gender; National Time Transfer Accounts; intergenerational transfers; generational economy