Government to Overhaul Labour Survey to Track Gig Workers and Unpaid Care Work

Proposed Overhaul of the Periodic Labour Force Survey

The Union government has announced plans to modify the design and structure of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) to better capture emerging employment trends, including digital platform workers and unpaid household labor. According to a press release and concept note issued in New Delhi by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) has proposed these updates to begin in January 2027, alongside changes to the survey schedule.

The Ministry has invited comments and suggestions on the proposed modifications from policymakers, academic institutions, researchers, and the general public within a 15-day window from the announcement date.

Capturing the Gig Economy and Unpaid Labor

To effectively track the expanding gig economy, the updated survey will introduce a separate Second Stage Stratum (SSS) designed to identify households with at least one digital platform worker. Questionnaires will include an additional entry to determine if any household member has engaged in digital platform work during a specified reference period. Under the revised framework, there will be four SSSs in rural areas and five in urban areas, with 14 households canvassed in each selected First Stage Unit (FSU).

Additionally, the survey aims to address long-standing data gaps regarding unpaid labor. The concept note highlights that a significant proportion of women spend considerable time on unpaid household and caregiving responsibilities—such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, and caring for elderly, sick, or disabled family members. While these tasks support overall household well-being and enable other members to pursue paid work, they have not previously been measured separately in the PLFS. New specific questions will now capture engagement in own-use production of goods, unpaid caregiving, volunteer work, and unpaid trainee work, alongside additional metrics to measure labour underutilisation.

Practical Implications and Verification

For researchers, policymakers, and analysts, these structural updates are intended to provide a more comprehensive view of modern employment dynamics and the full scope of economic contributions, particularly by women. The sample allocation and stratification criteria have also been updated based on the past two years of operational experience to improve efficiency, better represent population variations, and minimize operational hurdles during sample selection.

Readers and stakeholders looking to examine the official details, review the concept note, or submit feedback can access the primary announcement directly through [The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/government-to-modify-labour-survey-to-capture-gig-economy-unpaid-household-workers/article71617185.ece).