Gender differentials in time allocation: A study of hill region of rural West Bengal Rai Srijana*, Mukherjee Sanchari Roy** *Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Kurseong College, Kurseong **Professor, Department of Economics, University of North Bengal Online published on 1 August, 2019. Abstract Women form an integral part of rural households through their active participation in paid and unpaid activities. However, their contribution to subsistence agriculture, domestic activities and other unpaid activities is either unaccounted for or is undervalued in conventional national income surveys. Women's predominance in unpaid activities has serious implications for their status in society and opportunities in the labour market. Time use surveys are emerging as a very useful tool in capturing and valuing women's unpaid work and their contributions to the rural economy. For an in depth understanding of women's daily life, their work and their contribution in the rural hill economy, the present study has been undertaken in the only two hill districts of the state of West Bengal. Taking a sample of 150 households from three villages, the study reveals significant differences between men and women in time devoted to household activities and the total time with women working for longer hours than men, although no significant differences were observed in the time devoted to crop production and livestock rearing. Significant differences were also observed in the time spent by women according to the size of holdings in certain activities. Top Keywords Hill, rural, time use, unpaid work, women. Top |