Abstract/Summary

In the context of the ongoing rural transformation in many countries, women’s opportunities for economic participation are expanding. However, there is limited understanding of how policy interventions can support rural households to adapt to the increasing opportunity cost of women’s time in household activities. This article presents empirical evidence on the relationship between couple interdependencies in time use and nutritional outcomes in rural Telangana, India. The study uses innovative datasets that combined accelerometer-based physical activity data, time use, food intake, and sociodemographic data – within the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) framework. Findings show that differences in time allocation patterns between spouses in a household affect individual nutritional outcomes; when the husband allocates more time to economic activities, it tends to reduce the adequacy of the wife’s energy intake; conversely, when the wife allocates more time to domestic activities, it tends to reduce the husband’s energy intake adequacy.