{"id":44412,"date":"2025-05-30T18:48:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T13:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=44412"},"modified":"2025-05-31T16:10:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T10:40:51","slug":"gender-inequality-care-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/30-05-2025\/gender-inequality-care-work","title":{"rendered":"Addressing Gender Inequities in Care Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Social Justice; Vulnerable Section of Society<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Care work is often undervalued and disproportionately carried by women, reinforcing long-standing gender inequities, despite remaining a cornerstone of social and economic well-being.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the Care Work<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Care work<\/strong> \u2014 both paid and unpaid \u2014 encompasses childcare, elder care, healthcare, and domestic work, forming the backbone of social and economic stability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Globally, women spend significantly <strong>more time than men on unpaid care work<\/strong>\u2014household chores, childcare, elder care, and community service.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to the <strong>International Labour Organization (ILO),<\/strong> women carry out over <strong>three times as much unpaid care work as men<\/strong>, limiting their opportunities for career advancement and economic independence.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It fuels gender gaps in workforce participation and earnings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need For Care Ecosystem in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rising Care Deficit:<\/strong> India\u2019s elderly population (60+ years) aims to reach 227 million by 2036, many requiring continuous physical, emotional, and medical support.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Meanwhile, <strong>traditional family support systems<\/strong> are weakening due to <strong>urbanisation<\/strong>, and women continue to bear the brunt of caregiving \u2014 often sacrificing their own economic potential and wellbeing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unpaid Care Work: <\/strong>Most care work in India is unpaid and performed by women. According to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/03-03-2025\/centring-care-in-india-economic-policy\"> <strong>Time Use Surveys (2019, 2024),<\/strong><\/a> Indian women spend <strong>nearly 10 times more time than men on unpaid domestic tasks.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-11-2024\/contribution-of-unpaid-work-by-women\"><strong>SBI Research (2023) estimated<\/strong> women\u2019s unpaid care work<\/a> at \u20b922.7 lakh crore, highlighting its immense but unacknowledged economic value.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Growing Demand for Care Services:<\/strong> India&#8217;s aging population is projected to reach 20 crore by 2031, with nearly 20% of the total population expected to be elderly by 2050.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It underscores the need for specialized elder care services, including dementia care, assisted living, and home-based healthcare.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns: Engendered Care Services in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Size and Structure Paid Care Work: <\/strong>India\u2019s paid care sector employs around 36 million people, with <strong>women comprising 56.6%<\/strong> of this workforce.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>However, more than 99% of personal care jobs are informal, with poor working conditions and limited legal protections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marginalised communities, including SCs, STs, and OBCs, make up over two-thirds of the care workforce, reflecting deeply rooted structural inequities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Precarity and Gender Wage Gaps: <\/strong>While 88.7% of paid care workers are \u2018regularly employed\u2019, job security is rare \u2014 especially in the unorganised sector, which employs 43% of care workers.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Even within the organised sector, over 41% of jobs lack formal contracts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>gender wage gap<\/strong> among self-employed care workers is a staggering 61%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Systemic Barriers to Gender Equity:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Occupational Segregation<\/strong>: Women are clustered in lower-status care roles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gender Norms<\/strong>: Social expectations confine women to unpaid caregiving.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Limited Education &amp; Training<\/strong>: Many women lack access to skills that enable transition to better-paid roles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Burden of Unpaid Work<\/strong>: Time spent on unpaid care limits women\u2019s labour force participation and career progression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Policy Roadmap for a Stronger Care Work Economy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Recognise and Measure Unpaid Care Work: <\/strong>Expand Time Use Surveys, and launch dedicated national surveys to account for unpaid care in policymaking and economic data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Invest in Public Care Infrastructure: <\/strong>Build affordable childcare, eldercare, and community health facilities, and improve water and sanitation services to reduce care burdens.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Redistribute Care within Households: <\/strong>Promote shared caregiving through paid parental and eldercare leave, and campaigning to shift norms around gender and caregiving.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Formalise and Protect Paid Care Work: <\/strong>Recognise care work as skilled labour, provide fair wages, legal contracts, and social protections, and offer skill development and upskilling for women in care sectors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Close Gender Gaps: <\/strong>Enforce equal pay for equal work, facilitate women\u2019s entry into higher-paid, supervisory care roles, and expand access to adult education and vocational training.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Plan for Future Care Needs: <\/strong>Project care demands linked to demographic changes, align training and employment policies accordingly, and encourage Public-Private Partnerships and CSR investments in care services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Build Inclusive Collaboration: <\/strong>Engage government, civil society, private sector, and communities in care system reforms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Related Government Initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>National Programme for the Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE):<\/strong> It aims to provide accessible healthcare services for senior citizens, integrating primary, secondary, and tertiary care.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY):<\/strong> It offers financial protection for medical expenses, benefiting caregivers and families.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Health Mission (NHM): <\/strong>Supports healthcare infrastructure, including maternal and child health services, which are crucial for care work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Women and Child Development Programs:<\/strong> Various schemes under the Ministry of Women and Child Development focus on childcare, nutrition, and support for caregivers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Care work is central to a functioning economy and a just society. India needs to bring care work to the policy forefront\u2014recognizing it, redistributing it, and rewarding it, to bridge the gender divide in economic opportunity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Daily Mains Practice Question<\/strong><br><strong>[Q]<\/strong> How do cultural and societal norms influence the persistence of gender inequities in care work, and what steps do you believe are most effective in challenging and redistributing these responsibilities?<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindubusinessline.com\/opinion\/addressing-gender-inequities-in-care-work\/article69626341.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source: BL<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/UPSC-Editorial-Analysis-30-May-2025.PDF.pdf\">Download PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Care work is often undervalued and disproportionately carried by women, reinforcing long-standing gender inequities, despite remaining a cornerstone of social and economic well-being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44412"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44506,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44412\/revisions\/44506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}