Women's work status and their time use pattern in rural households of Haryana

Abstract

The work pattern of rural women revolves around a variety of jobs in the home, farm and livestock management. The National perspective Plan (1988) rightly pooints out, ‘For the majority of the women in the country, there is more work than wages, more load titan capacity and more compulsion than choice.’Studies on time utilization pattern (work load) of men and women in rural households in India, though few, indicate that rural women work longer hours than men. A 14–16 h working day is common in certain areas even among pregnant women. Review of the literature however, reveals major gaps in information especially pertaining to work status of rural women and how the time use pattern (workload) varies with their work status and/or agricultural season. The present study was therefore, an attempt in this direction. More specifically, the objectives of the study were:(a) to study time allocation pattern of rural women in work, rest, leisure and sleep and(b) to study the time utilization pattern in various categories of work according to women's work status and agricultural season.