Time-Use Surveys in Developing Countries: An Assessment

It is now widely accepted that unpaid work, both SNA and non-SNA, is an integral part of the economy and society. That is, it is difficult to understand the functioning of an economy or a society comprehensively without understanding the role of unpaid work. Unpaid work is also a key to understanding the dynamics of gender inequalities and an important input to designing of gender-equality policies. It is necessary therefore to estimate the size of paid and unpaid economies and to understand their characteristics, including their interlinkages, in order to understand the functioning of the total economy. Unpaid work, or the work that does not receive direct remuneration, is significant in both developed and developing countries. However it holds special importance in developing countries because one observes significant unpaid work in these countries within the purview of SNA work (for example, work covered under the production boundary of the UN-SNA) as well as non-SNA work (for example, work falling within the general production boundary). As a result, the total size of unpaid work is usually much higher in developing countries compared to that in developed countries. Some of the major concerns of developing countries, such as poverty, low human development, informal labor, gender inequalities and so on, can be understood well only if one understands the nature and characteristics of unpaid work in these economies.