Government to modify labour survey to capture gig economy, unpaid household workers

Representational image only. File

The Union government has decided to change the design and structure of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) to track digital platform workers and capture engagement in unpaid household, caregiving, volunteer, and trainee work. The PLFS will also include additional questions to measure labour underutilisation.

According to a press release and concept note issued in New Delhi on Friday (October 23, 2026), the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), has proposed modifications to the PLFS sampling design starting January 2027. The survey schedule will also change.

The Ministry has invited comments and suggestions from policymakers, researchers, academic institutions, and the public within 15 days from Friday.

A separate Second Stage Stratum (SSS) will be introduced in the PLFS to identify households with at least one digital platform worker. An additional entry will be added to the questionnaire to determine whether any member of the household has engaged in digital platform work during the specified reference period.

“There will be four SSSs in rural areas and five in urban areas, with 14 households canvassed in each selected First Stage Unit (FSU). This revision in SSS formation is expected to improve the coverage of digital platform workers and facilitate more comprehensive data collection on this emerging segment of the labour market,” the press release said.

According to the concept note, a large proportion of women in India spend considerable time on unpaid household and caregiving activities, such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, and caring for elderly, sick, or disabled family members. “While such activities contribute significantly to household well-being and facilitate the participation of other household members in paid employment, they have not been measured separately in PLFS until now,” it noted, adding that specific questions will be incorporated to capture engagement in own-use production of goods, unpaid household and caregiving activities, volunteer work, and unpaid trainee work.

Additionally, the criteria for sample allocation and stratification have been updated based on the experience of the previous two years. “These revisions are expected to improve the efficiency of sample allocation and stratification and ensure better representation of population variations, which in turn will minimise operational difficulties during sample selection,” the press release said.

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