Women’s Work in India: Evidence from changes in time use between 1998 and 2019

I provide evidence on long-run changes in women’s work for six Indian states common to the 1998–99 and 2019 time-use surveys. Rural women experienced large decreases in work time (especially paid work) but urban women did not. Men experienced larger declines in paid work but partly compensated with greater self-employment. Changes in self-reported “principal usual activity status” that are typically used to measure labour force participation do not provide an accurate measure of these changes in work time. Declining work for rural women is observed regardless of self-reported usual activity status, education level, caste/religious group, or state. Leisure time for women increased, reducing the gender-gap in leisure by 50%.