The upskilling gap: why women risk being left behind by AI, Pg7

Key Highlights:

• Indian working women spend approximately 9.6 hours daily on combined paid and unpaid work, with a significant portion dedicated to unpaid caregiving and domestic chores.
• Men spend around 8.6 hours a day on combined work, with over 80% focused on paid activities.
• The gap in working hours is widest in the 25–39 age range, where women spend double the time on unpaid caregiving compared to men.
• Women spend 10 hours less than men every week on self-development activities, crucial for transitioning to higher-value work in an AI-disrupted economy.
• Women contribute only 17% of India’s GDP, largely due to the invisibility and lack of recognition of their unpaid labor.

Detailed Insights:

• The Time Use Survey (2024) reveals that while 40% of women participate in the labor force, they often experience a "second shift" where unpaid responsibilities stack onto paid work.
• Women cut back on self-care to manage double shifts, sleeping approximately 2-2.5 hours less per week than men during their prime working years.
• The Periodic Labour Force Survey indicates that nearly 40% of women outside the labor market cite household responsibilities as the primary reason for not participating.
• Policy and technology should be redesigned to value women’s time, shifting towards an outcome-based approach that uses time-use data to redirect women's time towards remunerative activities.
• The gender budget can integrate time-use metrics, prioritizing investments in time-saving infrastructure like affordable childcare, elderly care, clean energy, and safe public transport.
• Women need access to lifelong and flexible upskilling opportunities tailored to their time, mobility, and digital constraints, requiring sustained gender budget allocations for relevant programs.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Gender Budgeting: Government budget that analyses the impact of the budget on different genders.
• Time Poverty: Having insufficient time to pursue activities due to excessive time spent on mandatory activities.
• Upskilling: The process of learning new skills or enhancing existing ones to remain relevant and competitive in the job market.