Context:
Despite its central role in sustaining households and economies, women’s unpaid care and emotional labour remains largely invisible in policy and economic accounting. The article highlights global evidence and legal developments calling for systemic recognition and valuation of women’s labour.
Key Highlights:
- Scale of Unpaid Work
- A 2023 UN report shows women spend 2.8 more hours daily than men on unpaid care and domestic work.
- This includes childcare, elder care, household management, and emotional support.
- International and Judicial Recognition
- Bolivia’s Constitution recognises housework as an economic activity with social security benefits.
- Trinidad and Tobago’s Counting Unremunerated Work Act (1996) mandates valuation of unpaid work, disaggregated by gender.
- In 2023, the Madras High Court ruled that wives performing household duties are entitled to an equal share in property.
- Nature of Emotional and Mental Labour
- Emotional labour involves managing relationships, caregiving stress, and household well-being.
- It remains invisible, unpaid, and excluded from GDP calculations.
- Feminist economists argue this skews policy priorities toward male-dominated “productive” sectors.
- Policy and Infrastructure Bias
- Emphasis on physical infrastructure leads to underinvestment in social infrastructure:
- Childcare
- Elder care
- Mental health services
- Global legal recognition of unpaid care work remains fragmented and limited.
Relevant Prelims Points:
- Unpaid Care Work: Non-remunerated household and caregiving activities.
- Emotional Labour: Effort involved in managing emotions to sustain social and economic systems.
- Gender Division of Labour: Social assignment of roles that disproportionately burdens women.
Relevant Mains Points:
- Ignoring unpaid labour results in systematic undervaluation of women’s contribution to the economy.
- Recognition can reshape welfare policies, pension systems, and labour laws.
- Global examples show feasibility of legal and economic valuation mechanisms.
- Gender equality requires redistribution of care responsibilities, not just recognition.
- Way Forward
- Incorporate unpaid care work into national accounting frameworks.
- Expand state-supported care services to reduce household burdens.
- Encourage greater male participation in care work through social and workplace reforms.
- Link recognition of care labour with social security and pension entitlements.
UPSC Relevance:
GS Paper I – Indian Society
GS Paper II – Social Justice
GS Paper III – Economy
Ethics – Justice, Equality, Human Dignity