Changes in Children’s Time Use, India 1998–2019

Abstract

Using the two waves of the India Time Use Survey, 1998–1999 and 2019, we document a 110-minute (30%) increase in average daily learning time. The largest offsetting decrease was in work time: 61 minutes. The composition of leisure changed, with television rising by 19 minutes, while talking fell by 10 minutes and games by 17 minutes. We then implement a Gelbach decomposition, showing that 68 minutes of the unconditional learning increase are predicted by demographic covariates. Of these predictors the most important are a child's state of residence and usual principal activity, which captures extensive-margin transitions into schooling.

Citation

Gibson, M., Jagnani, M. and Pullabhotla, H.K. (2023), "Changes in Children’s Time Use, India 1998–2019", Hamermesh, D.S. and Polachek, S.W. (Ed.) Time Use in Economics (Research in Labor Economics, Vol. 51), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 55-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0147-912120230000051003