Parliament Question: Caregiving activities regardless of Gender

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5473 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026 CAREGIVING ACTIVITIES REGARDLESS OF GENDER 5473. SHRI SACHITHANANTHAM R.: Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government stands by the claim made in the Press Information Bureau press release dated 25 February 2025 that there is “greater acknowledgement of caregiving activities regardless of gender in Indian families” and if so, the details thereof; and (b) whether the Government justifies the manner in which the participation of only 21 percent of men, averaging just about 16 minutes per day across all men can be interpreted as evidence of gender-neutral caregiving while the Time Use Survey (TUS) 2024 itself shows that 79 percent of men do not engage in unpaid caregiving work at all and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE [RAO INDERJIT SINGH] (a) and (b): The report of Time Use Survey (TUS) 2024 conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) during the period January-December 2024 was released through the Press Information Bureau Press Release dated 25 February 2025. The primary objective of the Survey is to measure the participation of men and women in paid and unpaid activities. As per TUS 2024, 21.4% of men and 41% of women in the age group 15– 59 years participated in unpaid caregiving activities for householdmembers while 16.2% of men and 32.8% of women in the same age group participated in unpaid caregiving activities for household members as per TUS 2019. Further, as per TUS 2024, the average time spent on unpaid caregiving activities for household members is about 74 minutes per day for men and 140 minutes per day for women while the average time spent on unpaid caregiving activities for household members is about 73 minutes per day for men and 137 minutes per day for women as per TUS 2019. *****