Mobility for What?: Space, Time, Labor, and Gender in South Asia, Gender and Society. October 2024. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08912432241284047

When Norms Collide: The Effect of Religious Holidays on Compliance with COVID Guidelines. 2023. Journal of Public Health, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-023-01911-7

The Fall of Urdu and the Triumph of English in Pakistan: A Political Economic Analysis. Pakistan Development Review, vol 62:1. 2023. DOI: 10.30541/v62i1pp.87-104

Experimental Evidence on Public Good Behavior across Pakistan’s Fractured Educational System. Pakistan Development Review, vol 60. No 3. 2021. DOI: 10.30541/v60i3pp.283-308

Dynamism in Gender Wage Gap, Pakistan Development Review., 46:4, 2007.

Province-Wise Growth Patterns in Human Capital Accumulation; Pakistan Development Review, Dec 2007.

The State of Education, Annual Review, SPDC, 2002-03; co-authored SPDC Annual Report on Education, 2003.

 

 

State of the Economy: Behind the Aggregates; SPDC policy paper, June 2003.

Emerging Macroeconomic Imbalances; NIPA Journal. June 2003.

Long run and short run exchange rate dynamics for Pakistan; Pakistan Development Review. Autumn 2002.

Industrial Policy and the Environment, (1999) part of the UNIDO team that authored this report.

 

Working Papers

 

Gender Socialization Among Pakistani Preadolescents and Adolescents (July 2020). PIDE working paper.

Bilateral J-Curves between Pakistan and Her Trading Partners (January, 2008) PIDE working paper.

 

Work in Progress

 

Emotional Well-being in Times of Covid: A Tale of Two Factors: Academic and Structural (with Fareena Malhi)

Digital bodyguards: A field experiment on the role of personal safety on mobility and empowerment

(with Sheheryar Banuri, Fareena Noor Malhi)

 

• Problematizing Human Capital Gender Convergence in South Asia

 

Boys as ‘Children’ and Girls as ‘Women’: Problematizing Human Capital Gender Convergence in South Asia

 

 

Zehra Aftab^a

And

Abhilasha Srivastava^b

 

 

 

1. Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Department of Accounting and Finance, 617, Al Jawharah, Khobar, Dhahran 34754, Saudi Arabia.

Email: aftab.zehra@gmail.com

 

2. Corresponding author: California State University, Fresno. Department of Economics, 5241 N Maple Ave, Fresno, CA 93740, USA

Email: asrivastava@mail.fresnostate.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Contribution Statement: All authors have contributed equally and significantly to the concept or design of the article, as well as to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the article, and they all agree on the final submitted version. Both co-authors participated in the conceptualization, methodology, writing the original draft, review, and editing of the paper.

 

Acknowledgement: We thank Kashaf Waqar for her research assistance and Aseem Hasnain for reading the manuscript.

 

Data Availability Statement: Datasets used in the manuscript are publicly available on the website repositories cited here:

Time Use Survey 2019. Micro Data India, (2021, April 4) https://microdata.gov.in/NADA/index.php/catalog/223

Time Use Survey January-December 2007. Open Data Pakistan. (2021, April 4). https://opendata.com.pk/dataset/time-use-survey-january-december-2007

Ethical Approval Statement: The ethics approval statement is not applicable.

Patient Consent Statement: No patient consent is required for this study.

Funding Information: This study received no funding from any source.

Conflict of Interest: Authors declare no actual or perceived conflicts of interest in conducting and reporting this research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boys as ‘Children’ and Girls as ‘Women’: Problematizing Human Capital Gender Convergence in South Asia

 

 

Abstract

 

This paper analyzes time-use data to examine spatial and temporal activity patterns of full-time school students in India and Pakistan. This study builds on interdisciplinary literature on human capital, time investment, and economic contributions of adolescent and young adult students in South Asia. Analysis shows gender convergence in time investment in human capital formation, for time spent in school-based learning activities across cohorts, but also highlights increased gender divergence in unpaid labor and access to public spaces between age groups. Using human capital theory and its feminist critique, this paper argues that 'human capital,' when narrowly defined to focus on productive labor rooted in hierarchical views of work, interacts with 'classical patriarchy' in South Asia, to create exclusions and privileges. Consequently, male students get treated as children and are sheltered from any form of labor to focus on learning and leisure, but females are socialized for future productivity, at the same time burdened with reproductive labor, and confined to the private sphere. The paper advocates for interventions and policies within the schooling system that can promote a broader understanding of human capital, inclusive of both productive and reproductive labor, that can challenge existing gender norms.

 

Keywords: Adolescence, Young Adults, Schooling; Gender Norms; Human Capital; South Asia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Gender significantly influences adolescent lives in India and Pakistan, neighboring countries with different political regimes. Gender norms shape opportunities and outcomes for women and girls across economic, social, and political contexts (Rammohan and Vu, 2018; Sundaram and Vanneman, 2008). Acknowledging how schooling promotes gender equality, UN SDG 4 aims for inclusive, equitable, high-quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all, emphasizing gender equality through policies ensuring equal access. Despite progress in gender parity in enrollment (Bonfert and Wadhwa, 2024), debates remain if schooling improves gender outcomes (Aslam, 2009). While some studies suggest schooling helps close the gender gap by offering gender-neutral spaces for learning (Bongaarts et al., 2017), others highlight school’s reinforcement of gender inequalities (Andrabi et al., 2012). We extend this literature by examining the everyday macro-patterns of full-time students in India and Pakistan, using time-use data.

 

Scholarship acknowledges great gender convergence in the Global North over the last century as socio-economic outcomes for men and women broadly seem to have converged (Goldin 2014). However, the picture in the Global South, especially South Asia, is complicated, where there is both a convergence and a great divergence in gender outcomes. A clear convergence is witnessed in schooling. Both India and Pakistan are nearing gender parity in primary, secondary, and tertiary education enrollment. Female literacy rate, though still lower than males, continues to increase, and girls are performing much better academically than boys (UNESCO, 2020). Simultaneously, female labor force participation rate has declined significantly (Chatterjee et al., 2018), and the presence of women in public spaces has shown limited growth (Srivastava and Aftab 2024). Additionally, gender-based violence and the low participation of women in decision-making positions in both the public and private sectors have kept India and Pakistan at the bottom of the Global Gender Development Index (UNDP, 2024).

 

These contradictions move the spotlight on schools and their impact on gender outcomes, especially on early stages of gender roles and performance. Adolescence is a dynamic period marked by significant physical and mental developmental changes influencing gender socialization. During this stage, students move through primary to secondary education, often with less adult supervision and greater reliance on peers. Cognitive development enables teenagers to think abstractly and critically reflect on issues like gender inequality, especially as they encounter democratic and egalitarian ideas in school. Since adolescence offers a key opportunity for interventions before gender norms become more deeply ingrained, the role of schools in early gender socialization in South Asia is a critical area for research.

 

Earlier studies have documented differences between in and out of school populations (Lloyd et al, 2008), but these remain an incomplete picture because the compared groups are structurally different. In South Asia, the non-school-going adolescent population is mostly involved in child labor driven by household and institutional economic, social, and political factors. Lumping these disparate populations in the same analysis might lead to inaccurate estimations. This paper contributes to this literature by investigating the everyday lives of pre-adolescents (10-14 years), adolescents (15-19 years), and young adults (20-24 years) who are full-time students. We also extend the existing literature by using the nationally representative India Time Use Survey 2019 and the Pakistan Time-Use Survey 2007[1] to document the macro patterns of spatial and temporal activities. We apply a fine lens to examine gender differences within the school-going student population. This analysis details the everyday time-use patterns and rhythms of adolescent and young students, tracing the nuances of gender differences. We argue that examining these nuances offers a way forward to think deeply about potential policy solutions to bridge this gap.

 

This paper contributes to the literature on gender parity among South Asian adolescents and youth by problematizing human capital theory and its connection to school-based education. Reconciling gender convergence in human capital with divergence in labor force participation and social norms requires understanding early gender formation. The study examines gender socialization of school-going adolescents and youth through patterns of activities they engage in. We find that boys remain, as Zelizer (1985) described, “economically-useless” but “emotionally-priceless-children,” dependent on others’ labor and care, engaging in play or learning rather than work. Most of their time is spent on learning activities inside and outside educational institutions as they develop human capital to become “economically useful-to-be” (Zelizer, 1985). Conversely, girls transition from early adolescence to young adulthood, becoming women, sharing household responsibilities, and staying within private, protected spaces (families, schools). Notably, we find no gender inequality in time spent in school-based and home-based activities, implying that parents invest in daughters’ human capital, knowing they must participate in household chores as part of ‘becoming’ women (Butler, 1990; Aslam and Kingdon, 2008). For girls, time for chores replaces outdoor leisure, a space for mobility and freedom, which is accessible to boys from an early age (Sanchez et al., 2023).

 

Learning to become ‘productive’: Neoliberal Education, Human Capital and Feminist Critique

 

The time adolescents and young people spend on activities is linked to their social and economic environment. Sociologists show how children's economic contributions and time use have changed over time and across regions (Philippe, 1962). Viviana Zelizer's landmark study, “Pricing the Priceless Child,” examined how societal views of children shifted from 1870 to 1930 in the USA (1985). During that period, children played vital economic roles, earning income through factory work. Over time, cultural and economic changes decreased children’s economic roles and elevated their emotional, sacred status within families, regulated by affection and education rather than work or profit. Zelizer speculated that children might regain utility either by increasing household chores or returning to paid labor. However, Bendelj and Spiegel (2023) found that since the 1970s, children’s participation in chores and market work has declined, largely due to the rise of human capital theory, which emphasizes investing in children’s future market value. This shift has led societies and families to grant children more time for education and leisure.

 

Zelizer's research focuses on children (age 6-12) but could also be expanded to adolescents and youth in the context of neoliberal reforms worldwide. These reforms aimed to increase school-based educational participation in the Global South and are linked to the acceptance and promotion of human capital theory (HCT) in economic and policy discussions. Gary Becker popularized the idea through his book "Human Capital," which he defines as “activities in the present [that] affect future well-being” (Becker, 1964). He explains, “investments in human capital [are] activities that influence future monetary and psychic income by increasing the resources in people” (Becker,1993, 11). In Becker's framing, activities that develop human capital primarily include education (Teixeira, 2014), seen as an economically productive system (Bowman, 1971). This assumption has become common in public discourse and is ingrained in societal thinking since the 1960s (Brown, 2015; Zuidhof, 2012). Economists interpret this as human capital development, where education is assumed to boost future productivity and earnings. Wrigley (1989) notes that the cognitive and intellectual development of children became a concern for middle-class parents, as they saw these traits as crucial for children’s future economic success. This concept has also influenced how policymakers and social scientists perceive the social value of children today. Over recent decades, investments in children's education have increased, evidenced by global efforts through the UN SDGs, the World Bank, and the IMF investments in the Global South (World Bank, n.d.). 

 

Critique of Human Capital Theory: Feminist Economics

 

An important extension and implication of Becker’s HCT is in the scholarship about the division of labor within the household. Standard economic models based on Becker’s theory posit that women receive less initial investment in education and often face disrupted work histories due to pregnancy, childcare, and other household responsibilities. As a result, women as a group are considered less productive and are typically paid less than men. The assumption that women-- as rational, self-interested decision-makers-- ‘choose’ to invest less in their human capital is deeply rooted in mainstream economic perspectives (Hakim, 2000; Polachek, 2003). However, there is extensive Feminist Economics scholarship (Benería et al., 2016; Bakker, 2007; Elson, 1993; Folbre, 1994; Waring, 1988) that critiques this assumption for failing to recognize and value the significant economic contribution of unpaid work, such as caregiving and housework performed disproportionately by women. Feminist Economics also shows that by focusing solely on paid work and earnings, HCT presents an incomplete view of economic activity and reinforces the public/private, paid/unpaid labor divide that disadvantages women. Also, neglecting social provisioning of lives as a necessary condition of human existence exacerbates gender asymmetries in developing economies (Poser, 2025).

 

While this scholarship does not explicitly focus on adolescents and youth, the implications of HCT on time invested by children during this stage of development are multifaceted. If children are viewed solely in terms of their future economic value, particularly the amount they will earn in the labor market if they receive the necessary education, spending time on formal education is an essential step, as human capital is primarily acquired through formal schooling. Extending this logic suggests that any time not spent on gaining human capital through school-based learning, but spent on any other form of labor, particularly unpaid labor, can then be seen as ‘useless’ or ‘unproductive.’ Therefore, in competing use of time for a growing person, education and leisure take precedence over household chores. This dichotomy between productive and unproductive time mirrors the feminist scholarship on the distinction between productive/reproductive labor. This scholarship argues that reproductive labor, which includes the work needed to reproduce and care for future generations of workers, is a necessary form of labor that has been devalued under neoliberal regimes. Productive and reproductive labor are necessarily mutually constitutive and required for the functioning of the economy and society (Bhattacharya, 2017; Poser, 2025). This scholarship also highlights that reproductive work disproportionately falls on women, contributing to the persistent gendered division of labor, as the difficulty in defining, counting, and valuing reproductive work makes it hard to incorporate into standard economic frameworks. Similar patterns of gendered division of labor are also observed among adolescents in different countries (Beneria et al., 2016; Srivastava and Aftab, 2024).

 

This analysis also raises a question about the usefulness of adolescents’ learning skills necessary for reproductive labor in their adulthood. Many studies indicate that too much household chores can disrupt students’ attendance and focus at school, potentially leading to weaker academic performance and outcomes. Research also shows that household and caregiving responsibilities can limit the time and support girls need to complete their education (Aslam and Kingdon, 2008). However, psychological research on adolescents suggests that performing household chores is an important part of developing into a responsible, independent adult. Childhood chores within the family system have been shown to have a positive impact on the development of children of all ages. Rende (2015) notes that chores can reduce the risk of drug and alcohol abuse, decrease behavioral problems, increase school engagement, promote positive mental health in adulthood, and enhance family cohesion through shared responsibility. Kennedy-Moore (2013) also indicates that childhood chores lead to increased competence in essential life skills, help instill values, and contribute to overall well-being, making kids happy. Parent-child conflicts contribute to emotional and behavioral issues and stress, and sharing household responsibilities can be beneficial in maintaining a positive family dynamic (Stienberg, 2020). There is also concern in the psychology community that there is a lack of responsibility cultivated among children in households, and over time this could lead to problems not only in school but also later in adult life in the workplace.

 

This discussion not only highlights feminist critiques of HCT but also questions the idea that investing time in acquiring human capital is a gender-neutral activity. If human capital continues to be defined narrowly as productive labor, then other forms of labor are not considered necessary to learn, and time spent on these activities would be economically useless with no future potential. However, feminist scholarship emphasizes that unpaid household labor is essential for maintaining productive work (Bhattacharya, 2017), and since it is mainly performed by women in the private sphere, girls need to be socialized into this labor. It is clear that conceptualizing human capital solely as future productive labor, ignoring reproductive labor, can lead to imbalance and contradictions. Debates show that human capital can either be narrowly defined to include only productive labor or broadly to encompass both productive and reproductive labor. This contradictory nature of human capital becomes even more complex in the Global South, where patriarchal norms strongly influence gender socialization from childhood through adulthood. To better understand this, the next section discusses the patterns of gender socialization.

 

Boys don’t Cook and Girls don’t Play: Gender Socialization in South Asia

 

Feminist theorists contend that gender is not innate or biological but is instead shaped by repeated acts of ‘doing’ or ‘performing’—a continuous activity carried out with or for others (Butler, 2004). These actions are based on socially accepted and culturally ingrained notions of feminine or masculine behavior. Consequently, notions of maleness and femaleness are constructed and normalized within specific contexts through deeply rooted expectations of gendered existence (Butler, 1998). Similarly, Scott describes gender as arising from “perceived differences between the sexes and as a primary means of indicating power relations” (Scott, 1988, 42). These perspectives position gender as a socially constructed phenomenon that varies across different historical periods and locations, and as a product of particular practices and discourses. (Datta, 2021, 2). Gender socialization, in turn, is how children of different sexes are socialized into their gender roles.  Simply put, children are inculcated with beliefs about what it means to “become a woman” (De Beauvoir, 1949) or a man. Therefore, gender socialization is deeply linked to the understanding of human capital and the time investment necessary to acquire it. The dichotomy of productive/unproductive or useful/useless labor manifests differently through schooling, peers, and family across various social and political contexts.

 

A preference for sons is widespread in India and Pakistan, with regional variations (Bharati et al., 2011; Dyson and Moore, 1983). Cultural practices like patrilineal descent and patrilocal exogamy—where brides move from their natal home to their husband's—foster a preference for sons and often result in less care for daughters (Das Gupta et al., 2003; Sundaram and Vanneman, 2008; Srivastava and Willoughby, 2023). Deniz Kandiyoti (1988) describes South Asia's patriarchy as ‘classic patriarchy,’ where marriage sustains this system, and women often become secondary to men and elder women in patrilocal households. A woman's role is typically temporary post-marriage, joining her husband's family (Das Gupta et al., 2003). Kandiyoti notes this system takes women’s work and children for granted, masking their contributions and making their reproductive role secondary for family continuity (1988). Girls, with fleeting ties to their natal homes and lower status after marriage, are socialized to prepare for household roles. Dube (1988) observes that girls are taught to be flexible and adaptable, helping them adjust to marital household needs and reflect femininity. Cultural beliefs shape family gender roles and the division of labor, leading to early gender gaps—girls do more chores, drop out of school more often, and engage in domestic and farm activities, while boys are often excused. Daily gendered labor socializes adolescents into distinct roles. A key mechanism is that girls and boys engage in different activities based on social norms, reinforcing a gender hierarchy (Srivastava, 2020).

 

Unlike girls, boys are socialized to be the main breadwinners within ‘classical patriarchy’, where adult males still live with their parents and/or contribute to the joint family income regularly (Aslam 2009). This leads to the future earning potential of boys being highly valued by parents. If parents want to eventually realize—or benefit from—the value of a son, they need to invest in his human capital. Therefore, parents tend to invest more in boys’ education in the hope that during tough economic times, boys are more likely to enter the workforce and provide for the family (Drèze and Kingdon, 2001; Rammohan and Vu, 2018; Dash et al., 2018). Since housework contributes little to a person’s human capital development, parents often prefer their sons to engage in education or other training, such as acquiring skills from family businesses, which are expected to generate future income. This suggests that boys are perceived as future assets for the family, with higher earning potential, are treated more favorably, and receive more family resources, such as better care, more play and leisure, and fewer household chores.

 

 

Since the early 1990s, neoliberal economic policies have challenged ‘classical’ patriarchal structures in India, more significantly than in Pakistan. In both nations, the constitution mandates free, compulsory education for all children aged 6-14. This has led to an increase in the enrollment of girls in primary and secondary schools. Despite gender gaps, the progress made over the last twenty years is substantial. Also, the gap in graduation rates and measurable outcomes has been consistently decreasing (UNESCO, 2020). HCT expects gender norms to weaken over time as more women pursue education and enter the workforce (Becker, 1981). As a result, gender equality efforts in South Asia have primarily focused on increasing female participation in education and employment.

 

Feminist economic research has extensively studied women's time use within households and its impact on their autonomy (Becker, 1981; Bittman et al., 2003). Studies find no gender convergence in the division of labor, which remains skewed, and women's mobility in public spaces remains restricted (Srivastava and Aftab 2024). Similar patterns of division of labor and mobility are observed for children, adolescents, and youths. In India, Vikram et al (2024) show that gender privilege is embedded early and worsened by crises. Girls’ labor increases during adversities across domains, while boys’ leisure and education are protected. Lloyd et al (2008) found that school enrollment influences gendered time use, with peer time potentially fostering equitable norms, especially for girls. This study compares adolescents in India, Kenya, Pakistan, and South Africa, showing that school reduces total work and gender division, but girls still work longer. This paper extends this study by interrogating the work and gender division within the school-going population using nationally representative data. Motiram and Osberg (2010) find gender inequalities in household chores, with girls' school attendance decreasing faster than boys’ in rural areas, while urban attendance remains stable. A household fixed-effects model shows no gender discrimination in informal home learning. Overall, girls are burdened with household work, but evidence on the effects on human capital development is weak.

 

In summary, there is mixed evidence of gender convergence with respect to human capital investment among adolescent populations in South Asia, but clear evidence of gender division of labor and leisure among the population, implying that time investment in human capital is primarily mediated through patriarchy. Also, gender convergence in South Asia can only be possible if the division of labor is directly addressed. This paper addresses this issue by analyzing the time investment of the young generation in human capital development, both narrowly and broadly defined, i.e., human capital investment only in productive labor vs. human capital investment both in productive and reproductive labor.

 

Based on the theoretical discussion in the last two sections, the key empirical questions that we investigate are: Do adolescent and young female students spend time away from school-based learning and household chores to develop reproductive skills? Do they spend less time on leisure activities like sports and hobbies? Do male students engage in housework to build skills for balanced life, promoting gender convergence? Do male students spend more time in leisure activities, strengthening peer bonds and masculinity?

Data: Description and Limitations

We use the ITUS-2019 and PTUS-2007  (the only nationally representative time-use  data set available for Pakistan).^[2] This allows us to document macro-patterns of time use for both Indian and Pakistani students with the intersecting dimensions of space, time, and activities performed (paid labor, unpaid labor,  education and leisure), thereby tracing their everyday rhythms by confirming their presence in a particular space, at a specific time, tied to the purpose of their presence.

ITUS includes 138,799 households and 447,250 individuals, while PTUS includes 19,380 households and 37,830 individuals. For this paper, we restrict the sample to full-time enrolled boys and girls aged 10 to 24 years old. Both surveys collected detailed information on respondents’ time spent on various activities in a 24-hour period through time-diary interviews. Both time diaries are divided into 10-minute slots, each slot documenting the time of day, primary activity, and location (within one’s own dwelling, outside, or in a nonfixed location). As noted by Larson and Verma (1999) each ‘activity context’ may be viewed as an ‘experiential niche” and hence a proxy for the socialization context. We further enrich the analysis by looking at the location of each activity performed (an aspect not considered by previous studies in the developing country context), thus capturing the intersection of space, time, and activity, to get a better insight into the social context of each activity episode.

Each activity episode was divided into the following categories: market work (employment and related activities), farm work (farming and related activities), subsistence work (production of goods for own final use), unpaid work (domestic and caregiving production and services for household members, volunteer, trainee, and other unpaid work), education (learning and related activities), active leisure (socializing and communication, community participation, and religious practice; culture, leisure, mass-media, and sports practices), and passive leisure (self-care and maintenance). ^[3]

We acknowledge the limitations of the time-use survey data used: While there is consensus that self-reported 24-hour time diaries are the most accurate in the developing country context, it is not always possible to collect self-reported time use data, and enumerators are sent in the field to fill the diaries with longer time slots. Both Pakistan and India adopted this “second-best” method. Moreover, both surveys collect data only for activities on which at least 10 or more minutes were spent.^[4] Further, with respect to survey data collection an important aspect is privacy: For example, a parent’s presence may constrain a child’s accurate time reporting. However, in ITUS, only 60 percent of respondents reported their own time use, and 40 percent of the time-use diaries were filled with help from relatives or close friends. For our analysis, we used only self-reported data to minimize this bias.

 

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Time Use Activities of Full-Time Students in India and Pakistan

Tempograms: Mapping Space, Time, and Activities

For the first analysis, we plot time-use patterns using tempograms illustrated in Figures 1A and 1B: These tempograms illustrate the everyday temporal and spatial rhythms of Indian and Pakistani students aged 10 – 24 years with the time of day on the x-axis and the percentage of the population on the y-axis. Across age groups (10-14, 15-19, 20-24 years), we see structured daily activities centered around education, unpaid work, and active/passive leisure, with gradual shifts as age increases. Education (and other learning activities) dominate the daytime, peaking sharply from morning to early afternoon, followed by passive leisure—like rest or media consumption, which dominates early morning and late evening hours across all age groups, highlighting its role as the default activity for both genders.

Unpaid work, including household and care activities, is a major part of girls' daily routines, increasing with age, especially in the evening, indicating greater responsibility. In Pakistani girls aged 10-14, unpaid work is limited but rises sharply with age, becoming the main activity for young adults. In India, the proportion stays steady, with preadolescent girls already spending much time on household chores. For boys, unpaid work remains minimal and increases slightly with age. Education dominates during the day, but active leisure becomes more common in the early evening, especially for boys. Girls' active leisure is limited and consistent later in the day. Market and farm work are rare and stable across ages, implying few students simultaneously study and engage in such work.

We construct separate tempograms (Figures 2A and 2B) to examine outdoor activity patterns. For both boys and girls, entry into public space is primarily driven by school or college attendance, especially from 8 am in the morning to early afternoon, after which it tapers off. However, this dominance decreases with age: students aged 10–14 spend the largest proportion of their day engaged in outdoor educational activities, while the 20–24 age group shows a notable decline in outdoor educational engagement. The presence of students in public spaces for learning is accompanied by consistent episodes of active leisure. While education appears as a gender-neutral activity, with both girls and boys entering public spaces daily for school or college, we observe significant gender differences in active leisure episodes. Boys (both Indian and Pakistani) across all ages consistently participate more in outdoor active leisure such as play or recreation than girls. Concerning girls, especially preadolescent Pakistani students, more Pakistani female students step out of the house for active leisure compared to Indian girls. However, with increasing age, the overall outdoor episodes of active leisure decrease for both Pakistani and Indian girls. As the discussion below indicates, the nature of these activities also changes, particularly for girls. This decline in active leisure suggests a rise in other responsibilities, often centered around unpaid work.

Bar Charts: Disaggregated Data

Gender differences delineated above for both India and Pakistan are further reinforced by bar charts in Figures 3A (Pakistan) and 3B (India). Among both Indian and Pakistani students aged 10–14, gendered time-use patterns reveal early, and distinct forms of gender role differentiation emerge.  Girls, even at this young age, spend significantly more time on housework than boys. Indian girls spend 13 minutes on cooking as compared to just 1.1 minute for boys, similarly Indian girls spend 10.1 minutes on cleaning as compared to just 1.4 minutes for boys. Pakistani girls spend 12.4 minutes cooking vs. 0.4 minutes posted by boys, and similarly Pakistani girls spend 23.7 minutes on cleaning as compared to just 0.7 minutes for boys. This additional burden on girls likely cuts into their leisure and recreational time. For instance, Indian girls spend only 77.2 minutes on a typical ‘normal’ day on sports and exercise compared to 110.2 minutes spent by boys of the same age group. 

Pakistani girls in the age group 10-14 years spend 42.1 minutes in sports /exercise on a typical day, compared to 69.4 minutes spent by boys. Pakistani boys appear to have their time distributed across leisure-based activities engaging in sports and spending more time traveling for leisure (26.4 mins vs. 5.6 mins for girls), but contribute very little to household work across all categories. Moreover, both Pakistani and Indian girls in this age group also appear to spend slightly more time socializing than boys. Not having access to other forms of leisure through travel, or travel for leisure, girls spend their time socializing, mostly within the space of their dwelling. Despites gender disparities in household work and sports/exercise delineated above, both Indian and Pakistani boys and girls spend a similar time on school-based learning (India: girls spend 352.1 mins and boys: 347.6 mins; Pakistan: 299.5 min vs 299.1 mins).

With the onset of adolescence, gender-based divisions in unpaid work and leisure become even more pronounced. As students enter the 15-19 age group, gender gap in time spent on domestic work more than doubles. In India, girls spend 43.5 minutes cooking and 27.8 minutes cleaning, compared to 2.2 and 2.5 minutes respectively for boys, resulting in a cumulative difference of 66.6 minutes; in Pakistan, girls spend 33.6 minutes on cooking and 47.5 minutes on cleaning, while boys spend a total of just 2 minutes on both activities, creating a gender gap of 79 minutes. This significant burden on girls is accompanied by reduced time for leisure and physical activities, while time spent on learning and mass media remains roughly the same for both adolescent boys and girls. Indian boys aged 15 to 19 spend 47.4 minutes more than their female counterparts on sports and exercise (70.3 vs. 22.9 minutes); additionally, 5.9 minutes are spent on travel for leisure, compared to 3.6 minutes for girls. Similarly, Pakistani boys dominate sports and physical activity (33.0 vs. 3.5 minutes for girls) and travel for leisure (34.7 vs. 4.5 minutes), while also spending more time on religious participation.

These trends suggest that adolescent boys are granted more autonomy and freedom of movement, possibly engaging in social activities, loitering, or community-based mobility. Compared to their counterparts in India, boys in Pakistan aged 15–19 spend more time on religious participation. Participation in religious activities may lead boys to spend more time socializing and traveling for leisure, as these activities often provide access to public spaces for gatherings and interactions. This extended public presence can blur the line between religious participation and informal loitering.

As adolescent students enter adulthood, gender divergence in daily activities becomes even more pronounced: Girls continue to take on significantly more housework than boys: Pakistani girls spend 45.7 minutes on cooking and 67.4 minutes on cleaning, while less than 1 minute on a typical day is spent by Pakistani young adult boys on both cooking and cleaning together, a gender gap of over 112 minutes; while Indian girls spend 55.6 minutes on cooking compared to 2.6 minutes for boys, and 33.3 minutes on cleaning as compared to 3.2 minutes for boys, a cumulative gender gap of 83.1 minutes, reinforcing gendered division of labour.  However, despite these domestic responsibilities, girls are still able to dedicate a significant portion of their time to learning, although boys still spend slightly more time on learning than girls  (India: boys spend 303.1 minutes on school-based learning, as compared to 294.0 minutes for girls. Pakistan: boys spend 298.4 minutes on school-based learning, as compared to 283.0 minutes, a gender gap of 15.4 minutes). This suggests that as girls approach adulthood, the growing weight of domestic labor begins to encroach more visibly on their educational time.

Moreover, as students become young adults, gender gap in time spent on sports/exercise increases. Indian boys spend nearly 34 more minutes than girls on sports / physical exercise (44.1 mins vs. 10.3 mins), and continue to spend more time on travel for leisure (8.6 mins vs. 5.0mins.), highlighting sustained access to recreation with peers. Pakistani boys, similarly, post greater access to active leisure: they benefit from a broader range of leisure activities in the public domain, spending more time than girls on sports/exercise (27.1 mins vs. 1.7 mins.), travel for leisure (33.7 mins vs. 4.9 mins.), and religious participation (7.1 mins vs. 0.7mins.), reflecting their continued freedom of movement and engagement in public life, while girls’ time related to leisure remains concentrated in private, domestic settings. Their travel is mostly centered around work /studies and appears more purpose-driven and bounded (Srivastava and Aftab 2024).

Participation Rates in % for Various Activities Daily

The participation rate, shown in Table 1, further confirms the gender disparities discussed earlier by showing the percentage of children, adolescents, and young adults engaging in a specific activity on a typical day. Overall, cooking and cleaning impose a disproportionately heavy burden on girls in both contexts, reflecting persistent gender norms that associate women with household work from a young age. More than 50% of Indian and Pakistani girls aged 10 to 14 clean on a typical day. This cleaning participation rate increases to 75% for Pakistani adolescent and young adult girls, while in India it remains steady at 52% for adolescent girls and 57% for young adult girls. Similarly, about 40% of Pakistani girls and 29% of Indian girls aged 10-14 cook on a typical day. This cooking participation rate rises to over 64% for Pakistani adolescent and young adult girls, while in India it increases to 46% for adolescent girls and 56% for young adult girls. In contrast, not more than 5% of Indian and Pakistani boys aged 10-14 participate in household chores, and even as they reach adulthood, this rate stays in the single digits, confirming the lack of gender convergence regarding household responsibilities.

School-based learning remains consistently high across age groups for both genders in Pakistan and India. Participation in sports and exercise shows a sharp gender divide: boys stay active as they grow older, while girls’ involvement declines significantly during adolescence. In Pakistan, 43% of girls aged 10 to 14 participate in sports and exercise on a typical day, compared to 75% of Indian girls in this age group. Among Pakistani girls, this number drops sharply to only 6% during adolescence. In India, the decline is more gradual, with 23% of adolescent girls and 12% of young adult girls participating in sports and exercise on a typical day.

In mass-media consumption, there is no significant gender difference among Indian boys and girls. However, Pakistani girls have a 10% point higher consumption rate across all age groups. This higher engagement may serve as one of the more accessible leisure outlets for Pakistani girls, while other active leisure activities like sports, exercise, and travel tend to be dominated by boys. Finally, student participation in the labor market remains low for both genders across both countries, with Pakistani students posting a slightly higher rate compared to Indian students.

These spatial and temporal patterns of time use indicate that for students ages 10-24 from India and Pakistan human capital time investment is similar for both genders, but there is a clear pattern of early entrenchment of gender socialization where girls straddle both household responsibilities and learning, while boys expand outward into the public and leisure domain. Also, time use patterns suggest that as adolescents grow older, they are increasingly pushed into separate gendered spheres: boys with more access to recreation and movement, and girls with rising domestic responsibilities—an early reflection of adult gender roles and gender divergence instead of gender convergence as expected through human capital accumulation. Based on this preliminary analysis, we wanted to examine the time use patterns through regression analysis to determine if these differences are statistically significant. The next two sections discuss the empirical strategy and the results of this empirical exercise.

 

Regression Analysis and Statistical Significance

Empirical Strategy

The following system of reduced-form time allocation equations captures the relationship:

 

t_ijk =  a_j + β_j (female _i)+ g_jX_ijk + r_j Z _jk  + ε _ijk    
                                              where ε_i∼ N(0,σ²)        

 

Xi is our vector of explanatory variables common to all time use equations

Z_j comprises a set of explanatory variables specific to each individual equation.

 

subject to the following constraint:         

 

The model examines the relationship between our dependent variable, t_ijk, the time spent (minutes/day) by individual i, in different activity episodes, j, belonging to age cohort, k. These 15 time-use equations form our system of equations; our main regressor of interest is the female dummy variable. The constraint implies that given the total time of 1440 min in a day, the sum of any time reallocation across categories must be zero.

 

The categories of time-use activities include active leisure at a granular level: learning, household work, care work, paid and subsistence work, voluntary work , community participation, socialization, religious participation, sports/ exercise/ health, mass media, travel related to leisure, travel related to work/learning, passive leisure not included before, and sleep. All respective equations include the following household controls: household size, household income per capita, ownership of the house, access to water, ownership of durable assets such as a refrigerator, access to electricity, and province/state fixed effects.

Since time allocation across activities is interdependent (time-use decisions are simultaneous with a constraint that the total time spent in a day is 1440 minutes), we estimate a system of equations using the SUREG model. This approach follows Cameron and Trivedi (2005) and builds on recent applications in gender and time-use literature, including Malhi (2022), who applied a similar model to rural Pakistan. SUREG is more efficient than OLS only if the regressors for all the equations in the system are not identical and if there is significant correlation in the disturbances across the equations. The efficiency gains are positively associated with the strength of correlation of disturbances across equations (Greene 2000). In this case, both conditions are met, and therefore, we use SUREG to estimate the effects of gender on time allocation for J equations and N observations.^[5]

Results

This section presents findings from the seemingly unrelated regression (SUREG) model, which estimates the association between being female and time allocation across various daily activities documented in Table 2. As mentioned above, the analysis is conducted separately for India and Pakistan across three age cohorts: 10–14 years, 15–19 years, and 20–24 years. The dependent variables represent the average minutes per day spent on activities such as paid work, household chores, care work, learning, leisure, sports, travel, religious participation, and passive entertainment.

Across both countries, the effect of being female is strongly associated with an increase in unpaid domestic labor, and this association becomes more pronounced with age. In particular, time spent on household work shows the most consistent and significant gender gap. For Indian girls, this gap grows from 21.87 minutes at ages 10–14 years to 84.2 minutes by ages 20–24 years. In Pakistan, the rise in the gender gap is even sharper (36.55 minutes to 119.5 minutes) across the same age range. These findings reflect a growing burden of domestic responsibility for girls as they age, underscoring intensifying gendered expectations. Care work and community involvement follow a similar trajectory, particularly in the older cohorts, although their effects are somewhat smaller.

In contrast, learning is a gender-neutral activity where girls’ time spent on learning demonstrates no statistical significance, implying the human capital investment in time is similar for both genders across all age cohorts. We find no tradeoff between household chores and learning for girls, i.e., the girls are not substituting their learning time with household labor. Instead, the tradeoff is evident in the gender differences in sports and physical activity, which are notable across all age cohorts. In India, boys consistently spend over 50 more minutes per day on sports than girls, while in Pakistan the gap is around 30 minutes. These disparities are closely tied to patterns in mobility and travel. Girls in both countries spend significantly less time traveling for leisure, work, or education, with the gender gap widening as they age. For instance, Pakistani girls aged 20–24 years travel for leisure 26 minutes less per day than boys.

This reduced mobility may reflect broader social restrictions and safety concerns, particularly in Pakistan, where boys also spend more time in religious spaces. It may then serve as a gateway for informal public socialization. Interestingly, passive leisure (e.g., watching TV, listening to music) is more common among Pakistani girls than Indian girls, especially in early adolescence. While the gap decreases with age (25.69 minutes at ages 10–14 to 12.36 by ages 20–24) it suggests that girls may turn to indoor or home-based activities as their access to public leisure remains constrained.

To connect these findings back to the key questions asked earlier, we find no significant evidence that adolescent and young female students spend time away from narrowly defined human capital development to develop skills and human capabilities related to reproductive labor, such as unpaid household chores and care work. However, we do find evidence that girls are investing time in developing both productive and reproductive labor, broadening their human capital. Conversely, we find that adolescent and young male students spend an insignificant amount of time on housework and care work and are largely excluded from developing skills and human capabilities necessary for maintaining a balanced life, which could lead to gender convergence in the future. In time spent on leisure activities, especially in public spaces like sports and games, there are clearly gendered patterns: females spend significantly less time than male adolescents and youth students. This difference provides them with more free time to build peer connections and masculine solidarities.

Robustness Check

For robustness, we estimate separate OLS regressions (Table 3A & 3B) for India and Pakistan, respectively, confirming gender divergence: girls spend more time on household maintenance, while boys engage more in sports and exercise. These regressions control for household-level factors such as income (or its proxy), size, access to onsite water and a fridge in Pakistan, and country-specific factors like states or provinces, caste (in India), and whether the area is rural or urban. In India, being female is linked to a significant increase in time spent on housework across all age groups, rising from 22 minutes for ages 10-14 to 85 minutes by ages 20–24 (all else constant). At the same time, being female reduces time spent on sports and exercise by 33 minutes for ages 10–14, to 49 minutes for adolescents. Similarly, in Pakistan, being female is associated with 36.6 extra minutes of housework for ages 10–14, increasing to 76.3 minutes for ages 15–19, and 111.5 minutes for ages 20–24, holding other factors constant. Conversely, Pakistani females spend 27 to 28 minutes less on sports and exercise across these age groups, also controlling for other variables. Overall, these findings show that gender is the strongest factor influencing how students balance household chores and physical activity. Although additional variables in our regressions—such as household income/assets, regional context, caste, and household size—add further nuance, gender remains the dominant predictor of how students divide their time between domestic duties and exercise.

Discussion

This paper demonstrates that although there is strong evidence of gender convergence in human capital time investment among full-time students in South Asia, the gender divide in division of labor and access to public space is substantive. Gender convergence in human capital time investment supports data showing higher school enrollment and graduation rates among girls in South Asia. However, this study also shows that such convergence does not guarantee a convergence of gender equality in other aspects of social reproduction. This finding supports the feminist understanding of 'human capital' as a narrow concept focused on productive labor based on the hierarchical view of productive versus reproductive labor. This dichotomy, embedded in neoliberal education systems, interacts with classical patriarchy in South Asia to create complex systems of exclusions and privileges, leading to adolescent and youth males being treated as children, sheltered from any kind of labor, and allowing them exclusive time for learning and leisure into later life. Meanwhile, adolescent and young females are socialized to become productive for the future while shouldering increasing reproductive labor and confinement to the private sphere. 

Another important dimension of our analysis is comparing India and Pakistan, two neighboring countries with different political histories. Our analysis does not reveal any significant differences in patterns of gendered human capital investment, reproductive labor, or leisure between the two nations. This is particularly surprising and noteworthy, given that we use nationally representative time-use data from two different periods: 2007 for Pakistan and 2019 for India. This not only offers a glimpse into changes over the past two decades in the region but also challenges the long-standing belief that women in India have more autonomy than those in Pakistan. Instead, this finding supports the idea that a shared patriarchal history and its interaction with neoliberal forces produce similar outcomes for adolescents and youths in both countries. In essence, school-going girls and young women are preparing to become ‘women’ by balancing their education for future productive work with their current reproductive responsibilities, while boys and young men of similar age are not expected to do any labor and are encouraged to enjoy substantial leisure, especially unsupervised, remaining ‘precious children’ in Zeiler’s words, until they reach adulthood. This has profound implications for their adult lives and the continued reinforcement of gender norms in both countries.

In recent research on the decline of fertility in many countries, Claudia Goldin links the drop to a mismatch: women's increasing participation in the workforce exceeds men's slower adjustment to traditional gender roles in housework and childcare. Using data from multiple countries, she finds that rapid economic growth without corresponding changes in gender roles leads to sharp fertility declines, as women face a "double burden" of paid and unpaid work (2005). The analysis in this paper shows that in South Asia, this trend is even more apparent among the younger population. This raises concerns about the future of South Asian economies. However, the theoretical framework presented here also offers a way to challenge such a future by expanding the understanding of human capital. By drawing on feminist theories that emphasize social reproduction as central to economic and social organization, we can explore ways to break down the productive/reproductive binaries. We recognize the role of education in the gender convergence in human capital so far and believe that schools are a primary transmitter of social, cultural norms, values, and beliefs across generations, remaining vital for a future reimagining. Therefore, expanding human capital to include an integrated understanding of productive and reproductive labor can primarily occur through early intervention in schools.

We close by discussing some policies and initiatives implemented around the world to challenge traditional gender binaries, particularly through educational programs. One example is Nordic home economics programs, which emphasize practical skills, sustainability, and health, with slight variations across countries. Similarly, in Finland, a mandatory home economics course for middle school students combines food education, consumer awareness, and environmental issues, fostering a holistic understanding of responsible living. Denmark incorporates cooking, health, and sustainability into its grades 5–6 curriculum, ensuring early education on essential life skills. Norway's "Food and Health" curriculum focuses on meal planning, cooking, and dietary guidelines aimed at promoting health and well-being. Sweden stands out by establishing gender equality as a fundamental policy goal within its entire education system, from preschool to university, with specific objectives to ensure equal opportunities and to challenge traditional gender norms through early intervention. India and Pakistan can draw lessons from these Nordic examples to empower younger generations. Implementing similar educational policies could equip boys with essential life skills and encourage them to develop into well-rounded individuals. At the same time, such initiatives could help girls gain the confidence and freedom to explore the world independently, thereby addressing societal barriers rooted in patriarchal norms. 

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Figure Legends:

 

Figures 1A: Tempograms depicting % of the total male full-time students’ population in public and private spaces at different times during a typical day, along with the activities performed irrespective of location for India and Pakistan.

 

Figures 1B: Tempograms depicting % of the total female full-time students’ population in public and private spaces at different times during a typical day, along with the activities performed irrespective of location for India and Pakistan

 

Figures 2A: Tempograms depicting % of the male full-time student population in public and private spaces at different times during a typical day, along with the activities performed in public spaces for India and Pakistan

 

Figures 2B: Tempograms depicting % of the female full-time student population in public and private spaces at different times during a typical day, along with the activities performed in public spaces for India and Pakistan

 

Figure 3A: Average Minutes Spent on Various Activities Daily by Full-Time Students and Age Groups in Pakistan

 

Figure 3B: Average Minutes Spent on Different Activities Each Day by Full-Time Students and Age Groups in India

 

 

Table Legends:

 

Table 1: Participation Rates in % for Various Activities Daily by Full-Time Students and Age Groups in Pakistan

 

Table 2: Effect of being female on students (full-time never married) time allocation of different age cohorts using seemingly unrelated regression (SUR)

 

Table 3A: OLS estimates for determinants of housework, sport & and exercise for full-time students in India

 

Table 3B: OLS estimates for determinants of housework, sport & and exercise for full-time students in Pakistan