ANNOUNCEMENTS
The subject of women‟s participation in paid labour markets has presented a complicated paradox to development theorists. On one hand, women‟s participation in paid labour markets is construed to be a positive indicator of economic growth and development, while on the other hand, participation in paid work, has induced a new form of gender disparity, manifested through “time poverty”. It has thus been debated that participation in paid work, instead of furthering gender equality, has furthered gender inequality.
India is a country that witnessed a sharp decline in its female labour force participation, almost during the same timeline, along which it witnessed a phase of rapid economic growth, accompanied by a rigorous expansion of employment opportunities. This unexpected trend has left social scientists seeking answers, trying to pinpoint a reason explaining this “puzzling” phenomenon. Among other factors, restrictive gender norms catalyzing time poverty for women at an intra-household level have been cited to be one of the most prominent causes, behind this puzzling trend.
Set in the backdrop of tribal hinterlands in West Bengal, India, this thesis aims to investigate, how participating in a paid activity like Kendu leaf collection, may change the daily time allocation patterns of women Kendu leaf collectors, and how this change in time allocation pattern, may affect them, as well as their households. The findings indicate that, factors such as lenient gender norms, and the availability of “surplus” household members who take care of household work, when women are away for Kendu leaf collection, have enabled women to smoothly manage both paid work and unpaid work, to a considerable extent. The implications of women‟s economic participation, on the quality of household work, however, could not be investigated in this thesis. Thereby, a conclusion regarding the exact implication for the household remains hazy and left to be investigated further.
