Double burden
Topic: Employment, Unemployment and Informalisation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The double burden is the two loads of work that many women carry at the same time. One is paid work or work that earns income. The other is unpaid domestic and care work at home. Since housework is unpaid and not counted, this extra load stays hidden. It lengthens women's working day and limits their time for better jobs, training or rest. The Time Use Survey 2024 (MoSPI) shows that women spend several times more minutes a day than men on unpaid domestic and care work.
Example
A woman in a village works all day as a farm labourer. Before and after that, she fetches water, collects fuelwood, cooks and looks after her children. She is working two jobs, but only one of them is paid.
Don't confuse with
- Care work: this is a type of activity, paid or unpaid. The double burden is the combined load of paid work plus unpaid home work that falls on the same person.
Related concepts
- Female labour force participation rate
- U-shaped female labour force participation
- Unpaid work of women
- Unpaid care work
- Care work
- Feminisation of agriculture
- Gender wage gap
- Glass ceiling