Gender Gap in Household Chores Persists in Urban India

Context: In India, more urban women are entering paid employment, but the share of those doing unpaid household work has also increased.

Increase in Paid Employment

• Urban women in paid work: Increased from 5% in 2019 to 18% in 2024 (a rise of 2.5 percentage points).
• Urban men in paid work: Increased from 1% in 2019 to 61.2% in 2024.
• Paid work includes self-employment, salaried jobs, and casual labour.

Rise in Unpaid Household Work

• Women doing unpaid domestic work: Increased from 3% in 2019 to 81% in 2024.
• Men doing unpaid domestic work: Increased from 23% in 2019 to 5% in 2024.
• Unpaid domestic work includes household accounting, purchasing goods, cooking, cleaning, waste disposal, and maintenance tasks.

Care Work Responsibilities

• Women caring for children, elderly, and differently-abled: Increased from 9% in 2019 to 31.8% in 2024.
• Men in caregiving roles: Increased from 9% in 2019 to 17.3% in 2024.

State-wise Gender Divide in Unpaid Work

• Across most States:
  • Urban men in household chores: 20% to 40%.
  • Urban women in household chores: 75% to 85%.
• North-eastern States show higher male participation in household work:
  • Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland: Over 50% of men engage in household chores.
• Among major States, Kerala leads with 44% of men participating in domestic work.

State-wise Gender Divide in Paid Work

• Across most States:
  • Urban men in paid work: 55% to 65%.
  • Urban women in paid work: 10% to 25%.
• Highest female workforce participation:
  • Tamil Nadu: 25% of urban women engaged in paid work.
  • Telangana: 24%.
  • Karnataka: 22%.
  • Himachal Pradesh: 23%.
• Lowest female workforce participation:
  • Bihar: 9%.
  • Uttar Pradesh: 10%.

Conclusion

• Despite increasing participation in paid employment, most urban women continue to shoulder the majority of household responsibilities.
• The burden of balancing both professional and domestic work is particularly evident in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh, where over 80% of women handle household chores alongside employment.
• Gender disparity in unpaid domestic work remains stark, with male participation still significantly lagging behind.

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