A new Bollywood movie – MRS – illuminates a stark reality again: Even in well-educated families in India, women's roles are often limited to work in unpaid families.
The protagonist, who married a gynecologist, finds himself trapped in an endless cycle of cooking, cleaning and care. Her dreams are not made up by force but by unremitting criticism and quiet coercion.
While the film is a remake of the Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen, it sparked a conversation – especially the push of men on social media, whose themes resonate with hard data.
A recent government survey shows that Indian women spend more than seven hours a day in home and care work – more than twice as much as men. Data show that women spend 289 minutes on unpaid homework and 137 minutes of unpaid care, while men spend 88 and 75 minutes on trivial matters.
They spend less time than men who work paid and engage in self-care activities.
Disappointingly, the last investigation conducted six years ago had similar results. Even though the government launched a campaign to empower women, things have not changed much.
In many Indian families, home work is considered a woman's job [Getty Images]
The Time Use Survey in India (TUS) tracks how people spend time in various activities. Surveyors collect data by asking individuals aged six to 59 how they spent the day before. The first TU was released in 2019 and the second one was published last week.
When the government released the results of the Second Use Survey (TUS), it highlighted two key shifts: Women aged 15 to 59 spent 10 minutes on unpaid homework, while their time in employment and related activities increased by more than three percentage points.
The survey concluded that this marked the “transition from unpaid activities to paid activities” for women, which is a positive signal that they spend less time in domestic trivia and more time working in paid work.
But economists think this is not necessarily true. Even the slight decline in home work suggests that women are still juggling paid work, and the burden of unpaid work is heavier than men.
Ashoka University professor of economics Ashwini Deshpande said TUS data should be analyzed together with the Indian Women's Workforce Participation Rate (FLFPR) to gain a deeper understanding of how women spend their time. FLFPR measures the percentage of women aged 15 and older in the workforce.
According to government data, FLFPR increased from about 23% in 2017-2018 to 37% in 2022-2023. Professor Deshpande said the increase was not just due to the increase in employment opportunities for women, but was stimulated by the financial distress.
Professor Deshpande said: “Women don’t wait for their time spent on family chores to reduce their work. Research shows that women want to work hard to supplement family income, so they end up working 'double', doing paid work at home and outside the home and doing unpaid work inside.”
Indian women are not alone in carrying disproportionate family and care work – this is a global reality. However, in India, the gap in the time spent at home is significantly larger.
Women spend 2.8 hours more time globally than men, while for Indian women, the difference is close to four hours.
Sociologists attribute this to the deep patriarchal society in India, which continues to enforce strict gender norms. Even among well-educated elites, women are still subject to sustained and permanent roles, not only to men but to women.
This strict gender role execution shapes not only women’s lives—it also shapes the way they receive stories about them.
Working women find themselves having to do both housework and work [Getty Images]
So while the Lady resonates with many, it also faces sharp criticisms – especially the men on social media.
One men’s rights group accused it of “spreading toxicity to traditional coalition families” while others completely dismissed its premise.
Mumbai-based comedian Kajol Srinivasan said the film wrinkled feathers because it brings uncomfortable mirrors to society.
She told the BBC that her father resigned at the age of 40 to take over family duties while her mother continued to work, and soon realized that housework was not an easy task.
“He was excited for the first week; he cooked different dishes and cleaned the house,” she said.
But then he began to find the work boring and could not last for a week.
“My father realized that housework is not only about work, but also about imbalances of power. Power is always kept with raising a family; no matter how you cook, there is no honor.”
She believes that women are expected to accept this lower power.
Ms Srinivasan said: “When Indians talk about their love for their wives and mothers, it usually has a lot to do with how much they sacrificed for them or how much they cared for them or their family.”
Time use surveys in India show that social change is slow and women spend time on home work may take.
Meanwhile, movies like Mrs. trigger conversations on everyday issues that many prefer to avoid – like who is cooking the dishes?
