"Unpaid care work is the invisible foundation of the Indian economy." Discuss in light of recent Time Use Survey findings, and suggest measures to recognise, reduce and redistribute it.

Unpaid care work means looking after children, older people and sick family members without pay. It keeps the workforce fed, healthy and fit to work, yet GDP does not count it. MoSPI's Time Use Survey (TUS) 2024 shows that women carry most of this load.

Why it is the "invisible foundation": TUS evidence

• Gendered burden: 41% of women aged 15–59 did unpaid caregiving, against 21.4% of men. Women who gave care spent about 140 minutes a day on it, men about 74 [1].
• Labour-market trade-off: on the reference day, only 25% of women aged 15–59 did paid or related work, against 75% of men [1]. Time spent on care pushes out paid work and keeps female labour force participation (FLFP) low.
• Invisibility: this work is outside GDP and earns no social security. Worldwide, women do 76.2% of all unpaid care hours [2].
• Rising demand: people over 60 will be about 20.8% of India's population by 2050 [3]. Elder care will add to the existing childcare load.

Nuances

• Men's participation rose from 16.2% in 2019 to 21.4% in 2024 [1], so redistribution has begun. But the gap between women and men grew from 16.6 to 19.6 percentage points.
• Family care also reflects close family ties. The real problem is that women have no choice, not that families give care.

Measures: ILO's 5R framework [2]

• Recognise: run the TUS more often than once in five years. Value unpaid work in satellite accounts and use gender budgeting to fund care.
• Reduce: expand Palna Anganwadi-cum-Crèches, which the Centre and states fund 60:40 [4]. Use piped water and clean cooking fuel to cut household drudgery. Regulate old-age homes and help older people stay in their own homes.
• Redistribute: bring in paternity and parental leave. Enforce employers' crèche duty under the Code on Social Security, 2020. Run campaigns that challenge gender norms.
• Reward: raise the ₹5,500 monthly crèche-worker honorarium [4] towards a decent wage.

Unpaid care holds up both households and the economy, but women pay most of its cost. Treating care as public infrastructure, built on the 5Rs, would raise FLFP and advance SDG 5.4. It would also give real meaning to Article 15(3) and to an inclusive Viksit Bharat 2047.