Unequal relief from the double burden: job quality, education, and women’s time poverty in India—evidence from NSS time use survey 2024

Background: Women's increasing participation in paid employment in India has not eliminated the persistent "double burden" of paid and unpaid work. Existing studies largely rely on binary employment measures and overlook heterogeneity in job quality and education. This study examines how multidimensional job quality and educational attainment jointly shape women's unpaid work and time poverty in India. Methods: Using nationally representative data from the NSS Time Use Survey 2024 (101,234 women aged 15-59 years), we construct a multidimensional Job Quality Index (JQI) using Principal Component Analysis incorporating employment formality, income adequacy, social security coverage, and decent working hours. We develop a Circular Multidimensional Time Poverty Index (CMTPI) as an exploratory visualization framework. Empirical strategy combines descriptive intersectional analysis, multivariate OLS regression with interaction effects, and instrumental variable (IV-2SLS) estimation. Results: Employed women perform 9.6 h of total daily work and undertake nearly five times more unpaid work than men. A "squeezed middle" emerges: secondary-educated women in low-quality jobs experience the highest total workload (≈559 min). A one-standard-deviation increase in job quality is associated with 42-58 min reduction in unpaid work. Education amplifies this association, with graduate women gaining approximately 67 min of relief compared with minimal reduction among illiterate women. Intersectional disparities persist across urban-rural, caste, and income groups. Conclusion: Employment alone does not reduce women's unpaid work; only decent jobs combined with education alleviate the double burden. Policies should prioritize improving job quality, expanding childcare and time-saving infrastructure, and promoting redistribution of unpaid work.