South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics

Women contribute considerably to a large part of an economy through their productive work, but their work is not recognized due to the inadequate definition of ‘economic activity' used in national income accounting. A significant section of the invisible work performed by rural women remains unidentified, undefined, and unpaid. Since the definition of economics is bounded by the market framework, much of the non-market work women perform remains invisible. It has consequently caused the market devaluation of women’s work. This paper examines the time distribution and valuation of working and non-working rural women engaged in unpaid activities.  Empirical evidence was collected through primary data with the help of the Time Use Survey, obtained from rural women (N = 200) of Deokali Block in the eastern Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. The study finds that the total average time spent on unpaid System of National Accounts (SNA) and Extended SNA activities by non-working women is almost double that of working women. Under the market replacement generalist approach, the daily and monthly wages for unpaid household work of non-working women are about 39.56 percent higher than those of working women. Similarly, under the specialist approach, the valuation of unpaid household work of non-working women is approximately 39.57 percent higher than those of working women. The study finds that the specialist approach provides a more realistic valuation of unpaid work than the Generalist approach.