UNPAID CARE WORK: NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICSshodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/30561/15/15_chapter4.pdfinformation about the age composition which shows that majority (67.7

CHAPTER 4

UNPAID CARE WORK:

NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS

4.1 Demographic Profile of Primary Care Providers

4.2 Social Profile

4.3 Educational Profile

4.4 Employment Profile

4.5 Economic Profile

4.6 Land Assets

4.7 Type of Fuel

4.8 Main Source of Water

4.9 Nature and Characteristics of Unpaid Care Work

4.9.1 Gender Distribution of Unpaid Care Work

4.10 Categories of Unpaid Care Work

4.10.1 House Work

4.10.2 Collection of Water / Fuel

4.10.3 Care of Children

4.10.4 Care of Adults

4.11 Region- Wise Distribution of Unpaid Care Work

4.11.1 Region wise distribution of Components of Unpaid Care Work by

Women

4.11.2 Source of Water - Regional Distribution

4.12 Summary

Chapter 4 Unpaid Care Work: Nature and Characteristics 75

CHAPTER 4

UNPAID CARE WORK: NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS

The discussions made in previous chapters highlight various situations that

give rise to any divergence in the nature and characteristics of unpaid care work. To

make inferences about the care providers of Madappally Panchayat, it is necessary to

analyze the demographic, social, and economic profile of the respondents and relate it

to their unpaid care work. Demographic profile gives information about gender, age

composition, etc, the social profile provides the data about religion, social category

etc and economic profile provides information about economic category, monthly

income and expenditure, type of employment, household assets etc of the sample. In

the light of general profile of primary care givers, an attempt is made to analysis the

intra household distribution of paid work, unpaid care work and personal activities to

differentiate the nature and characteristics of unpaid care work.

4.1 Demographic Profile of Primary Care Providers

4.1.1 Gender

As the study concentrates on intra household distribution of unpaid care work,

only those households with principal men and women caregivers were used for the

data analysis 315 households in total, 315 men and women respondents each, thus

making the total number of 630 respondents from different wards of the Madappally

Panchayat.

4.1.2 Age Structure

The primary care providers are divided in to five age groups- 20-30 years,

30-40 years, 40-50 years, 50-60 years and 60-70 years. Figure 4.1 provides

information about the age composition which shows that majority (67.7 per cent of


women and 58.4 per cent of men) belong to the age group of 30-40 and 40-50 years. It

indicates that the care responsibilities of people of both genders are high at their

middle ages. Other representations are 9.8 per cent, 16.8 per cent and 5.7 per cent

respectively for age group 20 to 30 years, 50 to 60 years and 60 to70 year's age group.

Figure 4:1

Age Structure of Women and Men Primary Care Givers

Source: Survey data

The analysis of the age distribution shows that 22.5 per cent of women and

36.9 per cent of men belong to the 50 years above age group; this is an indicator of

aging of the population, which may lead to a great care demand in the near future.

Furthermore, among the 50 plus age group, the relative proportion of men is greater

than women, which may lead to a high care demand from the part of men in the future

which may increase the care burden of women. The mean age and standard deviation

is figured out and presented in Table 4.1.


Table 4.1

Average Age of Primary Care Providers

Gender Mean N Std. Deviation

Men 45.90 315 9.65941

Women 41.81 315 9.51709

Combined Average Age (in years) 43.85 630 9.79660

Source: Survey data

The average age of care providing men is 46 years and that of women is 42

years. There is an average of four years difference in the mean age of men and

women. This may be due to the fact that men prefer to marry women who are three to

four years younger and usually 3-4 years age gap between husband and wife is

prevalent in our society. Another observation is that among the Nair and Muslim

communities the age gap between husband and wife is much greater compared to

other communities.

4.1.3 Household Size

The household size ranges from a minimum of two members to a maximum of

nine members. 65.4 per cent of households have between 4 to 5 members in their

families. 29 households (9.2 per cent) have only two members, 40 households (12.7

per cent) are of three members. Six members family constitute 9.2 per cent and 3.5

per cent of households have more than seven members in their family. It is presented

in Figure 4.2


Figure 4.2

Household Size

Source: Survey data

It is observed that 9.2 per cent families have only two members (husband and

wife); most of them belong to 60 above age group which is symptomatic of ageing of

population. Most of them have married children residing far away from them.

Majority of their care needs are met by themselves at present, but they are anxious

about meeting their future care needs. The average household size of care providers is

4.32. Majority of families studied are nuclear families consisting usually of a men and

women care providers and two or three children. Joint families are less (9.2 per cent)

and have usually more than 5 family members.

4.2 Social Profile

4.2.1 Religion

The religious and caste composition of the Kottayam district has certain

peculiarities. It has the highest proportion of Christians compared to all other districts

in the state. The 2011 census data indicates that Christian population of the district is

45 per cent compared to 19 per cent of the state Christian population. The Figure 4.3


given below gives the religion wise distribution of primary care givers of the

Panchayat under study. It is found that Hindus constitutes 46.3 per cent, Muslims 10.5

per cent and Christians 43.2 per cent indicating that the Madappally Panchayat

reflects the same trend of the Kottayam district.

Figure 4.3

Religion of Primary Care Givers

Source: Survey data


Table 4.2

Region-Wise Distribution of Religious Groups

RegionReligion

Hindu Islam Christian

North Ward3 65 0 35

4 41 6 53

Total 54 3 44

East Ward6 40 7 53

9 26 5 69

Total 33 6 61

South Ward12 41 5 54

15 58 8 34

Total 49 7 44

West Ward17 73 5 22

19 27 45 29

Total 51 24 25

Source: Survey data

Table 4.2 shows that Muslim population is largely found in the ward 19

(45 per cent), while Christians are majority in wards 4 (53 per cent), ward 6

(53 per cent), ward 9 (69 per cent) and ward 12 (54per cent). Hindus are majority in

wards 3 (65 per cent), ward 15 (58 per cent) and ward 17 (73 per cent).

4.2.2 Social Category

Social category is a collection of people with same social status. Generally,

people in Kerala belong to four main social categories like- scheduled castes,


scheduled tribes, other backward class and general category. In Kottayam district, all

social groups are present. The social category distribution of households in the study

area is presented in Table 4.3. It is found that of the 315 households studied, 14.9 per

cent belongs to scheduled caste (SC) community, 1.6 per cent to scheduled tribe (ST),

32.7 per cent to other backward community (OBC) and 50.8 per cent to General

category, which reflects the general district composition as per Panchayat Level

Statistics of 2006.

Kottayam Human Development Report (2009) highlighted that the spread of

religious groups and SC and ST population not evenly spread across all Taluks and

Panchayats. The findings of the study confirm this report.

Table 4. 3

Social Category-Wise Distribution of Primary Care Givers

Community Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent

SC 94 14.9 14.9

ST 10 1.6 1.6

OBC 206 32.7 32.7

General 320 50.8 50.8

Total 630 100 100

Source: Survey data

The Panchayat development plan reports that there are more than 14 SC/ST

settlements in the Madappally Panchayat. This might be the reason for having more

SC/ST population in the locality than the district average. Majority of them resides in

the wards 3, 4, 12 and 15.


4.3 Educational Profile

Education is a very important parameter used to assess the development of a

society. It is found that there is one illiterate man and only one illiterate woman in the

sample who belonged to the age group of 60-70. 45.7 per cent of women care givers

have secondary education, 20.3 per cent has higher secondary education, 14 per cent

has primary education and 12.7per cent has degree education. At the same time, 43.5

per cent of men have secondary education, 21 per cent has primary education, and

15.9 per cent has higher secondary, 12.7 per cent and has degree level education. It is

noted that men and women has almost similar educational level. This high educational

level of care givers is a unique feature of Kerala society, which provides equal

educational opportunities for both boys and girls.

Table 4.4

Level of Education of the Primary Care Givers

Education levelWomen Men

Frequency Per cent Frequency Per cent

Primary Education 44 14 66 21

Secondary Education 144 45.7 137 43.5

Higher Secondary 64 20.3 50 15.9

Degree 40 12.7 40 12.7

Post Graduate

degree/diploma16 5.1 13 4.1

Technical

Diploma/ITI1 0.3 5 1.6

Professional 5 1.6 3 1

Illiterate 1 0.3 1 0.3

Total 315 100 315 100

Source: Survey data


Table 4.4 compares the educational achievements of the men and women

respondents. It can be understood that women outnumber men in secondary, higher

secondary and university level education, which is a unique feature of Kerala State.

4.4 Employment Profile

Employment is a primary source of income for households that decide the

economic health of the society. Adequate availability of jobs and employable people

are always the strength of an economy. Figure 4.4 shows that in the study area, only

34 per cent of women are engaged in part time /full time paid employment, while 66

per cent of women are unpaid care workers. In the case of men, 89.85 per cent are

employed and only 9.15 per cent are unemployed.

Figure 4.4

Employment Profile of the Primary Care Givers

Source: Survey data

The type of employment of each respondent is also explored in the study. The

gender disaggregated data given in Figure 4.4 shows that a large majority- 65.7 per

cent of women care givers are unpaid family workers. 11.1 per cent of them are


government employees, 9.5 per cent domestic workers, 8.9 per cent private employees

and 3.2 per cent self employed. Only a negligibly small number of women engage in

business, agricultural labour and industrial labour. None of the women are farmers.

The major proportion of the men primary care givers are private employees

(33.7 per cent) followed by agricultural labourers (27 per cent), business men

(10.8 per cent), self employed (6 per cent) and none of them are domestic workers.

The proportion of government employees is almost same in both genders.

Compared to men (9.5 per cent), only 0.6 per cent of women are not in labour

force, which indicates that the women are engaged in one labour or other even if it is

unpaid. This might be due to the perception of women about house work, as they do

not consider it as a burden, but as a labour of love.

In Madappally Panchayat, keeping the general trend of Kerala, better

educational attainment from the part of women is not reflected in their paid

employment rate. Unpaid care is delivered without any price tag in households; hence

it is not considered as work. The data shows that 65.7 per cent of women are unpaid

care workers. This gender difference in the employment status is mainly due to the

care responsibilities which the society fixes on the head of women, by which they are

forced to remain at home doing different sorts of unpaid care work. Many highly

educated women presently work as women care providers to the family; this may be

an important factor that contributes to low labour force participation of women in this

state which is yet another unique feature of the Kerala economy.


4.5 Economic Profile

4.5.1 Monthly Income and Expenditure of the Household

Income is a major factor that decides unpaid care work. Income brings

economic freedom to purchase assets and technology, which reduces the care burden

of the primary care givers. The monthly income of the care givers is classified into

three major groups. The low income group which with a monthly income less than

` 5,000/-, the middle income group with a monthly income between ` 5,000/- and

` 10,000/- and the high income group which has an income above ` 10,000/-. The

monthly expenditure range of the households is also formulated using the above

criteria.

Figure 4.5 Figure 4.6

Total Monthly Income and Expenditure of the Household

Source: Survey data

Figures 4.5 and 4.6 representing pie diagrams of the monthly income and

expenditure of the households under study reveal that 55.90 per cent of the

households come in the low income range, while 15.60 per cent in the middle income

range and 28.6 per cent in the high income range. Similarly, 55.90 per cent spends in

` `

`

` `

`

``


the low range, while 17.10 per cent spends in the middle range and 27 per cent in the

high range. The expenditure pattern is almost same as that of the income pattern.

It is found that the monthly income of 55.9 per cent of the families lie below

` 5000. This low income level may have a direct impact on the unpaid care work of

the families. Income constraint may lead to constraints in goods market, asset market,

labour saving technology etc. All these increase the drudgery of unpaid housework.

The expenditure pattern also point out that the lower and middle income

group's expenditure is same as that of their income, such that they have zero savings

towards the future. But higher income groups could make sufficient savings.

4.5.2 Economic Category

In the study area, 44.6 per cent of the families belonged to the Below Poverty

Level (BPL) category and the remaining 55.4 per cent in the Above Poverty Line

(APL) category shown in Figure 4.7. This classification to APL and BPL do not

always reflect the actual economic status. The perception of people about APL and

BPL is very different as the APL families are trying to be categorised as BPL to

obtain subsidies and other welfare measures from the government. It is found that

many families belonging to that class do not even satisfy a single criteria to be

classified as BPL.


Figure 4.7

Economic Categorization

Source: Survey data

There are households, especially in colonies, where income disparity is

prominent and is reflected in their expenditure patterns, type of household, facilities,

asset ownership, and household technologies. All these factors may have its own

impact on the magnitude of unpaid care work and their wellbeing.

4.6 Land Assets

Evaluation of land assets is very important while analysing the time use

pattern of the care givers. Availability of proper land in a household can ease the time

spent for water collection by digging private well / bore well / pond. The land assets

are classified into three groups- 1) households with less than 10 cents, 2) between 10

and 20 cents and 3) above 20 cents.


Figure 4.8

Distribution of Land Assets

Source: Survey data

As shown in the Figure 4.8, 56.8 per cent of people have less than 10 cents of

land, 22.5 per cent has between 10 and 20, and 20.6 per cent have land above 20

cents. This indicates that majority of people live with mediocre assets. Madappally

Panchayat has a sizeable population of SC and STs, who reside in settlement colonies,

where land assets are very limited. Table 4.5 which brings information about the land

assets of different social groups shows that 87 per cent of SC, 100 per cent of ST, 60

per cent of OBC and 44 per cent of General community households has less than 10

cents of land as asset.

.


Table 4.5

Land Assets of Social Groups (per cent)

Land OwnedSocial Groups

SC ST OBC Others

Less than 10 cents 87 100 60 44

Between 10 and 20 cents 4 0 25 27

Above 20 cent 9 0 15 29

Total 100 100 100 100

Source: Survey data

Chi-square test is conducted to test whether the observed data differ

significantly from expected outcome. The result is presented in Table 4.6

Table 4.6

Chi square test- Social class and Land assets

Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 34.951a 6 0.000

Likelihood Ratio 40.144 6 0.000

Linear-by-Linear Association 24.907 1 0.000

N of Valid Cases 315

Source: Survey data

The Chi-square test verifies that p value is '0'. Hence there is a statistically

high association between social group and land assets. From Table 4.5 it is clear that

care givers belonging to SC/ST communities have less land assets than that of other

communities.


4.7 Type of Fuel

Type of fuel used for cooking is another important factor that decides the time

use pattern of care givers especially time spent for housework. The common sources

of fuel are collected wood, purchased wood, LPG and electricity.

47 per cent of the households use collected wood as the primary source of fuel

for cooking; 25.40 per cent uses purchased wood while 27.30 per cent uses LPG, and

a minority of 0.3 per cent uses electricity. Figure 4.9 depicts this.

Figure 4.9

Type of the Fuel used

Source: Survey data

As major proportion of households use collected wood, women tend to spend

productive time for wood collection, and this takes much time and effort to prepare

food, which contributes to their physical ill health and squeezing of leisure time.

4.8 Main Water of Source

Availability of clean potable water influences the overall wellbeing of the

family and its absence amplifies the burden of the care providers. Figure 4.10 shows

that 28.30 per cent of the households under study depend on public wells, while 67.90


per cent has well at their residence. A very few households (0.6 per cent) have only

access to public piped water. Therefore care providers have to spend more time on the

collection of water.

Figure 4.10

Source of water

Source: Survey data

It is observed that in colonies, water scarcity is a major problem and women

are found to spend much of their time for water collection, which increases their

drudgery of unpaid care work.

4.9 Nature and Characteristics of Unpaid Care Work

In the light of the understanding of socio economic background of the primary

care givers, the estimates of the nature and characteristics of unpaid care work are

presented separately for men and women to highlight that significant gender

differences prevailing in respect of unpaid work.

The main sub-categories of unpaid care work are house work, care of children

and care of adults and community activities. Pilot study showed that community

activity is very less among the respondents, especially among women, hence it is


omitted from the list instead, water / fuel collection is incorporated due to its

magnitude felt especially in settlement colony households. In India, economists do not

practically include collection of fuel and water in their GDP calculation. Hence it is

included as a sub category of unpaid care work in the present study. House work,

collection of water / fuel, care of children and care of adults in the household are the

main four sub-categories of unpaid care work.

4.9.1 Gender Distribution of Unpaid Care Work

In order to know the exact nature of unpaid care work it is necessary to know

how it is distributed among men and women care providers. Table 4.7 shows that

there is an unsymmetrical distribution of unpaid care work among the men and

women care providers. Men spend an average of 0.5238 hours for unpaid care work,

while women spend 9.5746 hours a day. While all women spend at least two hours for

unpaid care work, a large portion of men do not spend any time for that.

Table 4.7

Mean Time Spend for Unpaid Care Work

Gender Mean N Std. Deviation

Men 0.5238 315 1.15457

Women 9.5746 315 3.03640

Total 5.0492 630 5.07738

Source: Survey data

To test whether the mean time difference is statistically significant, the result

of ANOVA is presented in Table 4.8.


Table 4.8

ANOVA - Distribution of Unpaid Care Work

Sum of

Squaresdf

Mean

SquareF Sig.

ESNA*

Gender

Between Groups

(Combined)12901.906 1 12901.906 2445.218 0.000

Within Groups 3313.568 628 5.276

Total 16215.475 629

Source: Survey data

From ANOVA Table 4.8 the p value is less than 0.01, which means that the

difference is highly statistically significant. Women spend much more time for unpaid

care work than men. Even though human development achievements of Kerala

economy is at par with advanced nations, gender disparity is observed in care work in

the study area. It is found that women spend a greater portion of their day time for

unpaid care work. However men spend only a fraction of their time for care work. It

might be due to the fact that the society is rooted in strong patriarchal structure and

the prevalence of gender role is so strong in the society. This observation proves the

Male Breadwinner Model.

4.10 Categories of Unpaid Care Work

Unpaid care work can be of either direct personal care or indirect care work.

Direct care work consists of care of children and the care of adults, while indirect care

work refers to the collection of fuel/water and the house work. Another important

characteristic of unpaid care work is that there are differences between men and

women in the distribution of direct and indirect unpaid care work. It is found that


women spend 66.34 per cent of their total unpaid care work time for house work,

14.38 per cent for collection of water/fuel, 16.41 per cent for care of children, and

2.85 per cent for care of adults. With respect to men, they spend only 20 per cent of

their time for house work, but they spend 42 per cent of their time for collection of

fuel/water, 30 per cent of their unpaid care work time for care of children and 8 per

cent for care of adults. These facts are represented in Figures 4.11 and 4.12.

Figure 4.11

Percentage of Time Distributed among the Sub-Categories of Unpaid Care Work

by Women

Source: Survey data

Figure 4.12

Percentage of Time Distributed among the Sub-Categories of Unpaid Care Work

by Men

Source: Survey data


Women spend 80 per cent and men spend only 62 per cent of their total unpaid

care work time for indirect care work. But regarding direct care work, women spend

only 20 per cent of their time for it, but men spend 38 per cent. This is a characteristic

of unpaid care work in developing nations that the time spent on indirect care work is

much higher than that of direct care work. It might be due to inadequate public

provision of key infrastructure facilities and labour saving technologies.

4.10.1 House Work

In all developing nations the main component of unpaid care work is house

work. Routine house work includes tasks like cooking, washing, cleaning and all

other home maintenance. House work accounts for 66.34 per cent of women's total

time spent on unpaid care work. Women spend an average of 6.35 hours per day on

house work while, men devote only 0.11 hours for it. Participation rate of men and

women care providers in house work is presented in Table 4.9.

It is found that all women (99.37 per cent) except two are engaged in

household maintenance, while 300 men (95.2 per cent) do not do any house work. Per

day, 95.87 per cent of women do house work for more than four hours a day. On the

contrary, only 1.6 per cent of men are engaged in house work for more or less the

same time. No men does house work for more than six hours, while 66.03 per cent of

women spend more than six hours for the same. Thus unpaid care work is distributed

skewed towards women.


Table 4.9

Participation in House Work

Number of hoursWomen Men


0 2 0.6 300 95.2

2 2 0.6 7 2.2

3 9 2.9 3 1.0

4 41 13 2 0.6

5 53 16.8 3 1.0

6 54 17.1 0 0

7 64 20.3 0 0

8 52 16.5 0 0

9 29 9.2 0 0

10 7 2.2 0 0

11 2 0.6 0 0

Total 315 100 315 100

Source: Survey data

It is found that house work is the main reason for the women not engaging in

any paid work. 46.6 per cent of the women responded that their main reason for not

going to paid work is lack of time due to house work. It is observed that women in the

poor household spend more hours for house work. It might be due to lack of income,

as, most women in the poor families are either unemployed or engage in part time

paid work and their income is insufficient to purchase home appliances as they give

priority to their children's educational and nutritional needs.


4.10.2 Collection of Water / Fuel

Among different subcategories of unpaid care work, women tend to spend

14.38 per cent of total time for collection of water and fuel. It is observed that 48 per

cent of women do at least one hour of water collection a day, while, 86.7 per cent of

men do not do any work related to water collection. A few women are found to spend

even more than 5 hours a day for water collection. Table 4.10 gives a vivid picture of

time spent for collection of water and fuel by respondents.

Table 4.10

Collection of Water and Fuel

Number of Hours

Women Men


0 164 52.1 273 86.7

1 16 5.1 21 6.7

2 50 15.9 16 5.1

3 42 13.3 4 1.3

4 32 10.2 1 0.3

5 6 1.9 0 0

6 3 1 0 0

7 1 0.3 0 0

9 1 0.3 0 0

Total 315 100 315 100

Source: Survey data

It is observed that women residing in settlement colonies have to walk long

distance to collect water. They opined that they are spending at least 3- 4 hours to


collect water and it adversely affects their physical and emotional health. The

drudgery of water collection is high during summer season and it adds much to their

unpaid care work burden.

4.10.3 Care of Children

Child care involves activities like meeting the basic needs of children,

educational and recreational child care and travel related activities. As per Table 4.11,

it can be observed that 89.2 per cent of men do not do any work related to care of

children while only 46 per cent of women are not engaging in care of children. It is

observed that young children are absent in these households. 114 (36 per cent)

households have only adult members in their families. It is found that women spend

only 16.41 per cent of their total unpaid care work time for care of children. The low

amount of time spent for care of children may be due to the fact that child care is such

an activity often performed simultaneously with other house work, so women do not

consider it as a work and often failed to report the exact number of hours they spend

for this activity. Another reason might be due to the perception of women that it is not

a ' work' and as is performed simultaneously with other domestic work and women

regard this as a labour of love.


Table 4.11

Care of Children

Number of HoursWomen Men


0 145 46 281 89.2

1 33 10.5 25 7.9

2 44 14 6 1.9

3 41 13 1 0.3

4 23 7.3 1 0.3

5 18 5.7 1 0.3

6 9 2.9 0 0

7 1 0.3 0 0

8 1 0.3 0 0

Total 315 100 315 100

Source: Survey data

Not only the total amount of time devoted for child care but also the kind of

child care activities differ between men and women care givers. From the discussions

it is found that majority of the women devote most of their time for physical care,

such as feeding, dressing, bathing etc. and supervising, helping them in doing school

home work and the like; while men spend most of their time playing with children.

Also, when the reason for unemployment is analysed, 28.64 per cent of the

unemployed women responded that the child care is the main reason for not engaging

in paid work. Hence child care work is one of the major determinants of women's

labour force status too.


4.10.4 Care of Adults

Similar to childcare, the time spent for the care of adults is difficult to measure

accurately.

Table 4.12

Care of Adults

Number of HoursWomen Men


0 258 81.9 306 97.1

1 35 11.1 6 1.9

2 17 5.4 2 0.6

3 4 1.3 1 0.3

5 1 0.3 0 0.0

Total 315 100 315 100

Source: Survey data

Table 4.12 indicates that 97.1 per cent of men do not engage in any adult care

while 81.9 per cent of women also do not have any adult care. The reason is that in

258 (81.9 per cent) households elderly persons are absent. In the study area 57 out of

315 households have elderly persons in their family. In all 57 families women devote

time for elderly care work that 35 women devote one hour, 17 women spend 2 hours

and 4 women spend 3 hours and one woman spend 5 hours a day for this. While

among the 57 households have elderly persons, only 6 men spend one hour and 2 men

spend two hours and one man spend three hours for elderly care work. Thus women

spend in average, more time for the care of adults than men, but the difference is

much smaller when compared to childcare.


4.11 Region- Wise Distribution of Unpaid Care Work

The nature of unpaid care work differs in line with the location of household.

Table 4.13 points out that there is a slight difference in the time spent on unpaid care

work by men and women by region.

Table 4.13

Region-Wise Distribution of Unpaid Care Work

Region Mean N Std. Deviation

North

Men 0.7183 71 1.25565

Women 10.0986 71 3.32589

Total 5.4085 142 5.33177

East

Men 0.4634 82 0.98376

Women 9.3659 82 3.07725

Total 4.9146 164 5.01214

South

Men 0.5867 75 1.30584

Women 9.7467 75 2.86683

Total 5.1667 150 5.10351

West

Men 0.3678 87 1.06874

Women 9.1954 87 2.86859

Total 4.7816 174 4.92469

Total

Men 0.5238 315 1.15457

Women 9.5746 315 3.03640

Total 5.0492 630 5.07738

Source: Survey data


It is found that women and men primary care providers of northern region do

more work than other regions (women-10.0986, men- 0.71831 hours). It is followed

by Southern region (women-9.7467, men- 0.5866 hours), Eastern region (women-

9.3659, men- 0.4634 hours) and Western region (women-9.1954, men- 0.367816

hours). This regional disparity in unpaid care work is due to the unequal distribution

of resources like water, public provision of infrastructure facilities etc.

Using ANOVA, region wise difference in the mean time is tested for statistical

significance.

Table 4.14

ANOVA- Unpaid Care Work by Region

ESNA* RegionSum of

SquaresDf

Mean

SquareF Sig.

Between Groups

(Combined)35.825 3 11.942 0.462 0.709

Within Groups 16179.649 626 25.846

Total 16215.475 629

Source: Survey data

The result of ANOVA reveals that the p value is greater than 0.01. So there is

no statistically significant difference between the unpaid care work of men and

women in different regions of the Panchayat.

4.11.1 Region-Wise Distribution of Components of Unpaid Care Work by Women

Figure 4.13 displays the mean time spent for different components of unpaid

care work performed by women. The time spent by women for water collection is

more in north. Time spent for house work is more in south. Women in the western


region spend more time for child care. Similarly more time for adult care is devoted

buy the women belonging to southern region.

Figure 4.13

Components of Unpaid Care Work by Women and Region

Source: Survey data

To find whether any significant difference exist between the mean time spent

on the components of unpaid care in the regions, analysis of variance is performed

and the results are tabulated in Table 4.15.


Table 4.15

ANOVA- Region wise Distribution of Components of Unpaid Care Work

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Collection

of Fuel/Water

* Region

Between Groups

(Combined)63.157 3 21.052 11.300 0.000

Within Groups 1166.241 626 1.863

Total 1229.398 629

House Work

* Region

Between Groups

(Combined)6.653 3 2.218 0.190 0.903

Within Groups 7300.974 626 11.663

Total 7307.627 629

Care of

Children

* Region

Between Groups

(Combined)1.755 3 0.585 0.251 0.861

Within Groups 1460.506 626 2.333

Total 1462.260 629

Care of

Adults

* Region

Between Groups

(Combined)0.298 3 0.099 0.363 0.780

Within Groups 171.145 626 0.273

Total 171.443 629

Source: Survey data

In the case of collection of water / fuel the p value is 0.000 which indicates

that the difference is highly statistically significant. Women of north region spend

more time for collection of water / fuel than that of women of other three regions.

Meanwhile, there is no statistically significant difference between mean values of


time spent for house work, child care and adult care done by women of different

regions.

4.11.2 Source of Water - Regional Distribution

The major source of water in different regions are presented in Table 4.16

Table 4.16

Source of Water - Regional Distribution

Main water sourceRegion

TotalNorth East South West

Open well 33 19 20 17 89

Close public well with pump 3 1 1 0 5

Piped public water 0 0 1 1 2

Borehole in residence 0 2 2 1 5

Private well in residence 35 60 51 68 214

Total 71 82 75 87 315

Source: Survey data

50.70 per cent of households in the northern region depend on open/closed

public well as a source of water. Water resources are scarce in the northern region of

the Panchayat. Women have to spend many hours for collection of water in that

region, which is the reason for high amount of time spent for water collection. Public

provision of water facility is highly insufficient in the northern area.

4.12 Summary

The study found that the nature and characteristics of unpaid care work of

women is quite different from that of men. Women spend an average of 9.5746 hours

and men 0.5238 hours a day for unpaid care work. It is found that 230 (73 per cent)


out of 315 men do not spend any time for unpaid care work, were as all women do

some kind of unpaid care work and 95.87 per cent of women spend more than four

hours for house work. Women spend 80 per cent and men spend 62 per cent of their

total unpaid care work time for indirect care work. While women spend only 20 per

cent and men spend 38 per cent of their unpaid care work time for direct care work.

Among different components of unpaid care work, women spend 66 per cent

of their total unpaid care work time for house work, were as men spend only 20 per

cent time.14 per cent, for collection of fuel/water by women and men spend 42 per

cent. For the care of children, women spend 17 per cent and men spend 30 per cent of

their care work time. Concerning care of adults, women spend 3 per cent and men

spend 8 per cent of their total unpaid care work time. Thus there are gender

differences in time spent on all categories of unpaid care work. Even though there is

only slight difference in the mean time spent on total unpaid care work among

regions, there are regional differences; women of north region spend much time

collection of fuel/water.

The next chapter analyses the time allocation pattern of the primary care

providers.

Documents

UNPAID CARE WORK: NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICSshodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/30561/15/15_chapter4.pdfinformation about the age composition which shows that majority (67.7