HYDERABAD: Telangana has the highest percentage of working women in the country, including in the organised sector, a report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has revealed.
According to the report, about 46 per cent of women aged 15-59 years in the State spend a part of their day in ‘employment and related activities’.
Nationally, this figure stands at just 21.7 per cent. The report also points a stark difference between the percentage of women who spend a part of their day working at a job in rural and urban Telangana.
While almost 57 per cent of the women in rural Telangana spend a part of their day in employment-related activities, it is just 30.5 per cent in the urban parts of the State.
Unpaid work at home
There is a deep contrast in the amount of unpaid work, including taking care of family members, that men and women do at home in Telangana, despite the fact that there is not much difference between the time they spend on employment-related activities.
According to the report, while Telangana women (15-59 years) spend an average of 425 minutes every day on employment-related activities, men (15-59 years) spend 534 minutes. However, when it comes to unpaid work at home, the women of the State spend 252 minutes a day on providing unpaid domestic services at home, against just 88 minutes by men. Also, women spend 158 minutes on unpaid caregiving tasks at home as compared to a negligible 83 minutes by men.
Overall employment scenario better
Telangana has the largest percentage of persons (men and women) who spend time on employment-related activities, indicating that the employment scenario in the State is better than the rest of the country. According to the report, 62.4 per cent of the people aged 15-59 years spend a part of their day on employment-related activities against the national average of 46.3 per cent. The figure is 69 per cent in rural Telangana and 53.5 per cent in urban areas.
Further, Telangana has one of the highest percentage of persons (15-59 years) involved in the System of National Accounts (SNA) Production, 63.6 per cent — men form 70.5 per cent and women 54.4 per cent, according to the Union Ministry’s report. SNA Production includes employment in corporations, government, non-profit institutions and also household enterprises to produce goods.