The Centre is planning a time-use survey to map the time devoted by Indians for daily activities, including leisure. The intent, as per a news report, is to estimate the “quality of development”. How exactly time-use corresponds with “development quality” is unclear yet. But the data mine that the survey will generate can facilitate a finer understanding of the productivity, across age-groups, and in activities that do not enter the popular reckoning of productive work, etc, apart from aiding market research.
Given the survey will cover, among other activities, house-work by home-makers, the data can be used to estimate the economic value of the same, perhaps in man-hours or even the savings accruing to households with the need to hire providers for these services eliminated. Women in the households shoulder the largest burden of housework, often at the cost of career. An estimate of their work’s economic value will definitely be empowering as the prevailing attitude is largely dismissive of this labour. At the same time, activities such as TV viewing, or internet surfing, or even social media use, when mapped for trends (say,across age groups/gender), will help advertisers design outreach strategies for target segments of the population. The data could also be used to establish activity patterns in the dependent segments of the population, such as children and the elderly. That could guide interventions to the benefit of these groups. For example, if more children turn to non-physical activities for leisure and for significant lengths of time, then there is a looming healthcare-cost spurt in that, or if a significant number of the just-retired are looking for employment after superannuation, it could reflect economic insecurity or anxiety among the elders. Thus, the survey’s real significance could well lie in granular interpretation.
