The government will adjust the labor survey to capture the gig economy, unpaid domestic workers

Representative image only. File | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Union Government has decided to change the design and structure of the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) to track digital platform workers and capture their involvement in unpaid domestic, caregiving, volunteering and internship work. The PLFS will also include additional questions to measure labor underutilization.

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

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

A separate Second Stage Layer (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 engaged in work on a digital platform during the specified reference period.

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

According to the concept note, a large proportion of women in India spend a significant amount of time on unpaid domestic and caring activities, such as cooking, cleaning, childcare and looking after 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 yet been measured separately in the PLFS,” she noted, noting that specific questions will be included to capture involvement in own production of goods, unpaid household and caregiving activities, volunteer work and unpaid trainee work.

In addition, the criteria for sample allocation and stratification were updated based on the experience of the previous two years. “These revisions are expected to improve the efficiency of sample allocation and stratification and provide a better representation of population variation, which in turn will minimize operational difficulties in sampling,” the press release said.

Published – 23 Oct 2026 22:29 IST