Paper short abstract:

Examine time-poverty for informal workers in India. We find domestic, casual, and self-employed workers to be more likely to be overworked compared to wage-employed with female workers being more overworked than men. Female casual and self-employed workers are more likely to have less leisure time.

Paper long abstract:

Evidence on time use patterns of those engaged in informal work in India is still limited. We apply a multidisciplinary theoretical lens that draws upon feminist economics (women's agency and freedoms), sociology (border theory and conflict theory), and the literature on well-being (work-life balance and leisure) to understand time use among informal workers. Our research objective is two-fold. First, we examine whether informal workers including domestic, casual, and self-employed workers are more likely to be time poor compared to those engaged in wage employment. And second, we examine whether time poverty is more pronounced for women informal workers. We operationalize time poverty using four indicators: (i) being overworked, i.e., work more than 50 hours per week (ii) enjoy leisure time less than 60 percent of median leisure time (iii) being engaged in simultaneous activities during a time slot and (iv) being engaged in multiple activities over a certain duration. We undertake the analysis using the 2019 Time Use Survey, which is a nationwide survey. Our results suggest that, on average, domestic, casual, and self-employed workers are more likely to be overworked compared to those in wage employment. However, they are less likely to be engaging in simultaneous activities, multiple activities or enjoy less leisure time. Female domestic and casual workers are more likely to be overworked compared to their male counterparts. Further, female casual and self-employed workers are more likely to enjoy less leisure time. We also make comparisons using a smaller 1998 Time Use Survey to highlight long-term changes.