Care Economy

The "care economy" encompasses all paid and unpaid activities involved in caring for people — childcare, elder care, cooking, cleaning, healthcare assistance, and emotional support. Feminist economists argue that GDP systematically undervalues the economy by excluding unpaid domestic and care work, which is performed disproportionately by women. India's first Time Use Survey (2019) documented for the first time the scale of unpaid work — women spent over 7 hours per day on unpaid care activities, compared to under 3 hours for men.