Time poverty: Unpaid work keeps Indian women out of jobs, disempowered

Women in low-income households are also more driven to find paid work than women in higher income households where not working can be a marker of social status, as per the report

When her black feature-phone buzzed with news of a pregnant woman going into labour, Damsari Ozre rushed to finish as much housework as she could before leaving to attend to the birth.

The 29-year-old is an ASHA (accredited social health activist--a community health worker under the National Rural Health Mission) in Velgaon, a village in Palghar tehsil, Thane district, 95 km from Mumbai, India’s financial capital.

Ozre is used to spending four to five hours a day at work, away from home, but this can rise to upto 24 hours when there is a baby on the way. In