In mainstream economic models, the conceptualisation of leisure remains limited to the residual
category opposite work. In addition to being vague, this also has highly gendered implications. "Nonwork" in these models often tends to subsume unpaid domestic and caregiving labour, which is mainly shouldered by women. This work remains invisible as time allocation for leisure is framed primarily in reference to paid work. There is a need for the formalisation of leisure in Economics as a category distinct from paid work, unpaid work, and rest.
Development-related literature shows that structural constraints in accessing resources, reinforced
both inside and outside households, limit women’s capacity to exercise agency. This project explores leisure as a potential indicator for autonomy. It examines what drives or deters women's time allocation decisions towards it, and if gender plays a role in the kinds of leisure activities practised. The project sits within the Inclusive Economic Growth pathway, as it aims to broaden the scope of economic progress indicators beyond traditional measures, conceptualising decision-making autonomy over free time as one of them.
The project uses a mixed-methods research design and is based in the Indian context. The quantitative strand employs applied microeconomic techniques to analyse the Indian National Time Use Survey dataset to investigate how leisure time-use and activities differ by gender and other demographic variables. The qualitative strand uses semi-structured interviews to explore the subjective and sociocultural aspect of leisure, and its interactions with the experience of gender.