Who benefits from women's invisible work in India (Laishram Ladusingh)
Women's domestic work is largely for consumption by members of the household and does not conform to the definition of work as remunerated and market related. This makes women's work invisible in the market-based. Women in India spend on the average 4 hours 30 minutes a day on preparing, cooking, and serving food and beverages, cleaning house, laundry, and house maintenance, compared with about 20 minutes a day on the average contributed by men. On a per capita basis, children age 6–14 years consume 1 hour 15 minutes of women’s domestic work per day, adults age 15–59 consume 2 hours 15 minutes, and the elderly age 60 and above consume 1 hour of women's time on household management and maintenance. On average, women spend 40 minutes a day caring for children, the sick, and the elderly, but women age 20–34 spend 1 hour 10 minutes on caregiving as they tend to have the dual responsibility of caring for their own children plus looking after sick and elderly members of the household. Out of total caregiving time, per capita consumption is 45 minute for children, 15 minutes for the elderly consume, and 10 minutes for adults age 15–59 years. Failing to take account of women’s household work grossly underestimates the contribution of the informal sector to India’s Gross National Product (GDP) and underestimates GDP as a whole by up to 30 percent.