Women’s work such as cooking, fetching water and fuelwood, and unpaid work on family farms is not counted as work. What is the effect of this?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The number of women workers in the country is underestimated
Women who cook, fetch water and fuelwood or work unpaid on family farms are not categorised as workers. This narrow view of work leaves them out, so the number of women workers is underestimated.
Option (1) Women’s share in the non-farm sectors appears higher than it really is — Incorrect. Most of this unpaid work is at home and on family farms, so it does not raise any non-farm share.
Option (2) The number of women workers in the country is underestimated — Correct. Uncounted work means fewer women are counted.
Option (3) The worker-population ratio of women appears higher than it really is — Incorrect. Fewer women counted makes their ratio look lower, not higher.
Option (4) Women are counted as casual wage labourers instead of family workers — Incorrect. They are not counted as workers at all.
NCERT (2026-27): “6.2 Workers and Employment … Women carry out works like cooking, fetching water and fuelwood and participate in farm labour. They are not paid wages in cash or in the form of grains; at times they are not paid at all. For this reason, these women are not categorised as workers. …” “6.3 Participation of People in Employment … Going back to what has already been mentioned above, many household activities done by women are not recognised as productive work. This narrow definition of work leads to non-recognition of women’s work and, therefore, to the underestimation of the number of women workers in the country. …” |