Unpaid Domestic Work in India: SC Observations & TUS 2024 Data

GS I: Role of women and women’s organizations.

Context: Recent landmark Supreme Court (SC) observations and Time Use Survey (TUS 2024) data have reignited the national debate on recognizing, valuing, and redistributing women’s unpaid domestic and caregiving work to foster economic growth and gender equity.

Landmark Supreme Court Pronouncements

• Nation Builders: In Shishu Pal v. Surjeet (June 2026), the SC declared that homemakers build nations, valuing their unpaid labor at atleast ₹30,000 monthly (under Motor Vehicles Act compensation standards).
• GDP Contribution: Highlighted that women’s unpaid work contributes 15% to 17% of India’s GDP, yet remains largely unrecognized and uncalculated.
• Impact on FLFP: Observed that assuming domestic duties automatically fall on women is a key reason for India’s low Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) of 31.7%.
• Shared Partnership: In March 2026, the SC rejected patriarchal norms, stating household chores are a shared responsibility, not a wife’s default obligation, noting “You are marrying a life partner, not a maid.”

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The Ground Reality (TUS 2024 Data)

• Asymmetric Time Burden: Women aged 15–59 spend 305 minutes daily on unpaid domestic work versus 86 minutes for men.
• Caregiving Gap: Women spend 140 minutes daily on child and elder care compared to 74 minutes for men.
• The “Double Burden”: 94% of employed women still perform daily domestic work (spending 233 minutes), while only 32% of employed men contribute (spending 84 minutes).
• Vicious Cycle: Outside the workforce, a woman’s domestic workload jumps by 76 extra minutes daily, creating a barrier where unpaid duties prevent work, and staying out of work increases domestic duties.

Economic and Policy Imperatives

• National Accounting: Integrating unpaid domestic work into the System of National Accounts (SNA) via Satellite Accounts (similar to Australia and Canada models) to make invisible labor visible.
• Data-Driven Budgeting: Formal accounting provides empirical backing for Gender Budgeting, justifying state investments in childcare, eldercare, and community infrastructure.
• Unlocking Human Capital: Releasing women from 5+ hours of daily unpaid work enables participation in education, entrepreneurship, and paid employment, boosting overall economic productivity.

Challenges & Barriers

• Patriarchal Mindsets: Deeply ingrained societal frameworks treat domestic work as a woman’s unilateral duty.
• Institutional Deficits: Lack of affordable, high-quality public childcare and eldercare facilities near workplaces or rural centers.
• Workplace Rigidities: Limited availability of paternity leave and flexible working arrangements reinforces the female-only caregiving role.

Way Forward

• Formalize Satellite Accounts: MoSPI must adapt UN frameworks to calculate unpaid care within national GDP metrics.
• Care Infrastructure: Expand public creches, day-care centers, and piped water/gas networks to reduce daily domestic drudgery.
• Shared Parental Leave: Policy reforms encouraging equal paternity and maternity benefits to signal caregiving as a gender-neutral task.
• Social Norms Change: Early childhood education and media campaigns promoting shared domestic responsibilities from a young age.

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Conclusion

Transitioning from legal declarations to economic practice requires recognizing unpaid care in national accounts and reducing it through infrastructure, workplace policy, and social shifts. Transforming domestic work into a shared responsibility is crucial to unlocking India’s full demographic dividend and achieving an equitable partnership.

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