Indians work Longest, paid least compared to the world with negligible time for Leisure: Global Wage Report 2020-21
A recent report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found that Indians are among the most overworked workers across the world while earning the lowest minimum statutory wage in the Asia-Pacific region, except Bangladesh.
According to ‘Global Wage Report 2020-21‘: Wages and Minimum Wages in the Time of COVID-19, India ranks fifth in the world among countries with long working hours, often stretching up to 48 hours a week.
According to Global Wage Report 2020-21: Wages and Minimum Wages in the Time of COVID-19, only Gambia, Mongolia, Maldives and Qatar, where a quarter of the population is Indian, have average working hours longer than in India.
As per the report, an average worker in China works 46 hours a week, 36 hours in the UK, 37 hours in the US and 36 hours in Israel.
Another thing which the study discovered was the minimum statutory wage of an Indian worker is the lowest in the world, with the exception of some sub-Saharan African countries.
Among Indians, both salaried and self-employed in urban areas work longer than those in rural areas. “Across gender, men work longer than women in both villages and urban areas,” the 2018-19 Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) said.
India conducted its first time-use survey in two decades in 2019. Men spend more than four times as much time as women on paid work in a day. Urban men work an hour extra in one day on paid work compared to women.
Another shocking finding is that Indians spend less than one-tenth of time in a day for leisure, and especially women get far less time than men.
It has also been estimated that self-employed and salaried men and women spend more than six days a week on activities relating to work.
Meanwhile, the government is finalising new labour codes which will allow employers the flexibility to choose between a four-day and a five-day work a week based on the requirement of the sector.
To be implemented soon, it will set the ceiling on no more than 48 hours of work a week but would mean longer working hours.
