Paid and Unpaid Care Work: Gender Inequities and Policy Pathways

Abstract

This article explores the dynamics of women’s paid and unpaid care work in India, highlighting persistent gender disparities. Women bear a disproportionate share of unpaid care work—spending over ten times more hours than men—yet this critical labour remains unaccounted for in national labour statistics and economic output measures like gross domestic product (GDP). Beyond the challenges of measuring unpaid care work, the article examines the size, sectoral distribution, socio-economic characteristics and employment conditions of India’s paid care workforce, where women constitute over half the total workforce. It underscores systemic issues such as informality, lack of contracts, gendered wage gaps and limited social security. The analysis also reveals that the majority of paid care workers come from marginalised social groups and economically vulnerable households. It calls for targeted investments in care infrastructure, improvement in job quality and formal recognition of care work to promote gender equality and support inclusive, sustainable development.