REPORT: TIME USE IN INDIA, 2024 (JANUARY – DECEMBER 2024)

March 28, 2025

REPORT: TIME USE IN INDIA, 2024 (JANUARY – DECEMBER 2024)

‘Participation of working age population in paid activities increased over time. Share of their days’ time spent in paid activities also increased.’

‘Substantial participation in SNA production activities & Non-SNA production activities across genders’

‘Increased participation and day’s time spent in culture, leisure and mass media related activities among the working age population, showing a more balance between committed and leisure time’

Posted On: 28 MAR 2025 5:58PM by PIB Delhi

Introduction

The National Statistics Office (NSO), MoSPI completed the second all-India Time Use Survey (TUS) conducted during January – December, 2024, following the first survey conducted during January – December, 2019.

The distinguishing feature of Time Use Survey from other household surveys is that it can capture time disposition on different aspects of human activities. Indeed, time-use surveys are particularly useful for capturing all forms of work: work in the household sector, as well as work that is not accounted for in national accounts, such as unpaid domestic work and caring for household members.

The report is brought out within a span of three months from the completion of the survey work. A Fact Sheet highlighting the major findings of the survey was brought out in the month of February, 2025.

Key Highlights of the Results of Time Use Survey (TUS), 2024

Participation and time spent in paid activities: In the population of age 15-59 years, 74.5% male and 24.9% female participated in paid activities spending on an average 421 minutes and 305 minutes respectively in such activities in a day.
Participation in SNA production and Non-SNA production activities¹: 79.2% male and 43.4% females in the age group 15-59 years participated in SNA production activities, while 45% male and 93.9% females participated in Non-SNA production activities during the reference day.
Commuting for employment related activities: Male commuters (for employment related activities) in the age group 15-59 years, spent 77 minutes on average in a day in commuting compared to 67 minutes spent by their female counterparts.
Domestic and caregiving activities for household members continues to be borne by the female members of the households, although participation of male members in such activities have increased: 26.4% male and 83.1% females participated in domestic services for household members in normal days. In ‘other days’ (i.e., weekly off-days, holidays etc.), male and female participation in such activities were 32.2% and 67.5% respectively.

Use of mass media: 87.4% of younger people in the age group 15-29 years in urban areas and 73.4% in rural areas reported to have used mass media in a day. They spent 126 minutes and 116 minutes respectively in using mass-media
Time spent by children in extracurricular activities: Children in the age group 6-14 years, spent 61 minutes in extracurricular activities while participating in such activities. Younger participants in the age group 15-29 years spent 74 minutes in a day on an average in extracurricular activities.

¹Note: SNA and Non-SNA production activities are defined in UN System of National Accounts (SNA) 2008
[SNA complete.book]

Features of the survey
In this survey, information on activity particulars was collected for each household member of age 6 years and above, with a reference period of 24 hours starting from 4:00 AM on the day before the date of interview to 4:00 AM on the day of the interview. The reference period of 24 hours was split into 48 time slots, each of duration of 30 minutes. In case of multiple activities in a time slot the activities which were performed for 10 minutes or more were recorded, subject to a maximum three activities in a time slot.
The activities reported by the respondents, were codified following the International Classification of Activities for Time Use Statistics 2016 (ICATUS 2016).

iii. Information on time use was collected through Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).

Coverage: This survey covered 1,39,487 households (rural: 83,247 and urban: 56,240). Information on time use was collected from each member of age 6 years and above of the selected households. This survey enumerated 4,54,192 persons of age 6 years and above (rural: 2,85,389 and urban: 1,68,803).
Presentation of the estimates: all-India and State level estimates for persons of age 6 years and above, obtained from the Time Use Survey, 2024, have been presented in the Report.

Major Indicators: The major indicators generated from TUS, 2024 are described here.

Participation Rate: Participation rate in a day in any activity is calculated as the percentage of persons performing that activity during the day.

Average Time Spent in a Day Per Participant: Average time spent in a day per participant for any activity is calculated by considering those who participated in the activity.

Average Time Spent in a Day Per Person: Average time spent in a day per person for any activity is calculated by considering all the persons irrespective of whether they participated in the activity or not. By this approach, distribution of total time of 1440 minutes of a day per person in different activities is derived.

Key findings of the Survey:

Table 1: Participation rate (%) among different age groups in the activities in a day all-India
Description of the activity	15-29 years	15-59 years	60 years and above
	male
Employment and related activities	56.3	75.0	48.1
Production of goods for own final use	9.7	14.1	19.5
Unpaid domestic services for household members	25.9	30.4	34.0
Unpaid caregiving services for household members	14.0	21.4	14.1
Unpaid volunteer, trainee and other unpaid work	0.8	0.8	2.1
Learning	31.9	13.0	0.1
Socializing and communication, community participation and religious practice	90.3	92.8	96.8
Culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices	96.0	94.6	94.8
Self-care and maintenance	100.0	100.0	100.0
	female
Employment and related activities	14.9	25.0	16.4
Production of goods for own final use	17.6	23.6	22.1
Unpaid domestic services for household members	86.2	92.9	80.6
Unpaid caregiving services for household members	45.6	41.0	21.7
Unpaid volunteer, trainee and other unpaid work	0.8	1.1	2.2
Learning	27.1	11.2	0.1
Socializing and communication, community participation and religious practice	90.9	93.0	97.2
Culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices	89.9	89.2	92.3
Self-care and maintenance	100.0	100.0	100.0
	person
Employment and related activities	35.3	49.9	32.3
Production of goods for own final use	13.7	18.8	20.8
Unpaid domestic services for household members	56.4	61.7	57.2
Unpaid caregiving services for household members	30.0	31.3	17.9
Unpaid volunteer, trainee and other unpaid work	0.8	1.0	2.1
Learning	29.5	12.1	0.1
Socializing and communication, community participation and religious practice	90.6	92.9	97.0
Culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices	92.9	91.9	93.6
Self-care and maintenance	100.0	100.0	100.0

Table 2: Average time (in minutes) spent in a day per participant of different age groups all-India
Description of the activity	15-29 years	15-59 years	60 years and above
	male
Employment and related activities	477	480	408
Production of goods for own final use	118	133	159
Unpaid domestic services for household members	87	86	100
Unpaid caregiving services for household members	77	74	84
Unpaid volunteer, trainee and other unpaid work	167	150	119
Learning	427	422	78
Socializing and communication, community participation and religious practice	131	135	199
Culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices	184	156	220
Self-care and maintenance	694	690	764
	female
Employment and related activities	338	344	317
Production of goods for own final use	87	103	111
Unpaid domestic services for household members	280	305	227
Unpaid caregiving services for household members	164	140	117
Unpaid volunteer, trainee and other unpaid work	113	111	104
Learning	417	412	63
Socializing and communication, community participation and religious practice	124	135	198
Culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices	152	145	206
Self-care and maintenance	695	686	771
	person
Employment and related activities	448	446	385
Production of goods for own final use	98	114	133
Unpaid domestic services for household members	237	251	189
Unpaid caregiving services for household members	144	118	104
Unpaid volunteer, trainee and other unpaid work	138	127	111
Learning	422	417	72
Socializing and communication, community participation and religious practice	127	135	198
Culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices	168	151	213
Self-care and maintenance	694	688	767

Table 3: Average time (in minutes) spent in a day per person of different age groups all-India
Description of the activity	15-29 years	15-59 years	60 years and above
	male
Employment and related activities	269	360	196
Production of goods for own final use	12	19	31
Unpaid domestic services for household members	23	26	34
Unpaid caregiving services for household members	11	16	12
Unpaid volunteer, trainee and other unpaid work	1	1	2
Learning	136	55	0
Socializing and communication, community participation and religious practice	118	125	193
Culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices	177	148	208
Self-care and maintenance	694	690	764
Total	1440	1440	1440
	female
Employment and related activities	50	86	52
Production of goods for own final use	15	24	24
Unpaid domestic services for household members	242	283	183
Unpaid caregiving services for household members	75	58	25
Unpaid volunteer, trainee and other unpaid work	1	1	2
Learning	113	46	0
Socializing and communication, community participation and religious practice	113	126	192
Culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices	136	129	190
Self-care and maintenance	695	686	771
Total	1440	1440	1440
	person
Employment and related activities	158	223	124
Production of goods for own final use	13	21	28
Unpaid domestic services for household members	134	155	108
Unpaid caregiving services for household members	43	37	19
Unpaid volunteer, trainee and other unpaid work	1	1	2
Learning	124	50	0
Socializing and communication, community participation and religious practice	116	126	192
Culture, leisure, mass-media and sports practices	156	139	199
Self-care and maintenance	694	688	767
Total	1440	1440	1440
Note: Total may not add up to 1440 due to rounding off