Keywords
Reduce
Redistribute
Reward
Represent
Malayali
Household
Domestic
Patriarchal
Culture
How to Cite
Abstract
The study employs five R approach to address the issue of disproportionate burden of unpaid work on women within Malayali (native speakers of Malayalam language) households. The five Rs are recognise, reduce, redistribute, reward and represent. The first three Rs relate to unpaid work and the latter two Rs relate to paid work. Time use survey of 91 Malayali female respondents confirms gender disparity in unpaid work within these households as there is a limited participation of males in the domestic chores. The mean hours of household work per day performed by the female respondents in the sample are 5.25 hours compared to 1.47 hours for the male counterpart. But the growing demand for market-based care services and a significant percent of women demanding remuneration for domestic chores indicate that there is an ample scope for marketisation of care sector. However patriarchal culture and perceptions on gender roles suggest that transition to a market-based system may not be smoother.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Kavitha A. C., Dr Parvathy P. (Author)