The interaction between women's employment and the care economy is also well-documented in India. Women's role in unpaid household and care work remains central as a majority of women are responsible for majority of the unpaid work in household settings. However, disparities in the allocation of care work would impact female labour force participation and work outcomes, the extent and hours of participation, employment choices and economic upward mobility. The paper investigates the relationship between women's employment and care economy in India-the relationship where unpaid care economy work has effects on women's labour force participation and work opportunities. Existing studies and government reports, especially based on secondary data of national sources such as labour force surveys and time-use data and scholarly studies are reviewed to explore women's pattern of work, paid and unpaid,. It indicates that in women's labour force outcomes and structure the care economy role, particularly extensive responsibilities in child care, old care, housekeeping and other unpaid services can limit their labour force participation, result in occupational segregation, lower working hours. The access and affordability of childcare, care services, home services, heal care etc., have their impacts on women's ability to participate in paid employment. The authors emphasize that recognizing and addressing women's burden of unpaid care economy tasks are a necessary tool for policy purposes to enhance women's employment and outcomes and can involve investing in care infrastructure, strengthening support mechanisms in workplaces and equitable sharing of domestic labour within households.
Chopra, Deepta, et al. “Well-being Costs of Unpaid Care: Gendered Evidence from a Contextualized Time-Use Survey in India.” World Development, vol. 173, 2024, article 106419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106419. Folbre, Nancy. The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values. The New Press, 2001. Folbre, Nancy. Greed, Lust and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas. Oxford UP, 2009. Hirway, Indira. “Unpaid Work and the Economy: Linkages and Their Implications.” Indian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 53, nos. 1–2, 2010, pp. 1–21. Hirway, Indira. “Unpaid Work and the Economy: Linkages and Their Implications.” Indian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 53, no. 4, 2010, pp. 705–721. International Labour Organization. Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work. International Labour Office, 2018. International Labour Organization. Care at Work: Investing in Care Leave and Services for a More Gender Equal World of Work. International Labour Office, 2022. International Labour Organization. World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends for Women 2018—Global Snapshot. International Labour Office, 2018. Janiso, J. “Gender Differences in Unpaid Care and Domestic Work in India.” Development Policy Review, 2024. Kabeer, Naila. “Paid Work, Women’s Empowerment and Gender Justice: Critical Pathways of Social Change.” Pathways of Women's Empowerment, Institute of Development Studies, 2008. Kabeer, Naila. “Women’s Economic Empowerment and Inclusive Growth: Labour Markets and Enterprise Development.” School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 2012. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Time Use Survey, 2024. National Statistics Office, Government of India, 2025. Razavi, Shahra. The Political and Social Economy of Care in a Development Context: Conceptual Issues, Research Questions and Policy Options. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 2007. Sahu, S. “Gender Differences in Unpaid Care Work in India: Evidence from the Time Use Survey.” Artha Vijnana, 2023. Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom. Oxford UP, 1999. Singh, Pushpendra, and Falguni Pattanaik. “Unfolding Unpaid Domestic Work in India: Women’s Constraints, Choices, and Career.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, vol. 6, 2020, article 111. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-0488-2. Srija, Anupam, and K. Vijay. “Women’s Work and Time Use in India: Evidence from the Time Use Survey.” Indian Journal of Human Development, 2021. Standing, Guy. The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class. Bloomsbury Academic, 2011. Tripathi, S. “Unpaid Care Work and Women’s Employment in India: Evidence from the Time Use Survey.” The British Journal of Social Work, vol. 54, no. 8, 2024, pp. 3509–3528. United Nations Development Programme. Gender Equality in India: A Study of Women's Economic Participation. United Nations Development Programme, 2020. United Nations Women. Progress of the World's Women 2019–2020: Families in a Changing World. UN Women, 2019. United Nations Women. Whose Time to Care? Unpaid Care and Domestic Work during COVID-19. UN Women, 2020. World Bank. Women, Business and the Law 2024. World Bank, 2024. World Bank. Women, Business and the Law 2023. World Bank, 2023. World Bank. World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. World Bank, 2011. Benería, Lourdes. Gender, Development, and Globalization: Economics as If All People Mattered. Routledge, 2003. Folbre, Nancy. “Measuring Care: Gender, Empowerment, and the Care Economy.” Journal of Human Development, vol. 7, no. 2, 2006, pp. 183–199. Folbre, Nancy. “Reforming Care.” Politics & Society, vol. 36, no. 3, 2008, pp. 373–387. Budlender, Debbie. The Statistical Evidence on Care and Non-Care Work across Six Countries. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 2008. Razavi, Shahra. “The Political and Social Economy of Care in a Development Context: Conceptual Issues, Research Questions and Policy Options.” Gender and Development Programme Paper, no. 3, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 2007.
Cite this Article
Kumar, P. (2026). Female Employment and the Care Economy in India. The Business and Economic Research, 1(1), 23-34.
Prem Kumar "Female Employment and the Care Economy in India." The Business and Economic Research, vol. 1, no. 1, 2026, pp. 23-34.
Prem Kumar. 2026. "Female Employment and the Care Economy in India." The Business and Economic Research 1, no. 1: 23-34.
Citation generated automatically. Please verify formatting before use.
Licensing
© 2026 The Author(s). The Author(s) retain copyright of their work. Published by The Business and Economic Research.
All articles published in The Business and Economic Research are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
This licence permits anyone to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to the full text, and reuse or adapt the published work for any lawful purpose, including commercial use, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s), a link to the Creative Commons licence is provided, and any changes made to the original work are indicated.
The authors grant The Business and Economic Research the right of first publication and a non-exclusive licence to publish, reproduce, distribute, display and archive the article in all formats and media. Authors retain all copyright and other rights in their work.
Authors are permitted to share and deposit their accepted manuscript and published article in institutional repositories, subject repositories, personal websites and other lawful repositories, provided that the original publication in The Business and Economic Research is properly acknowledged and the article is linked to the official published version where possible.
The full terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/