Context

• The Union Budget 2025 has marked a significant milestone in gender-responsive fiscal policies by allocating a record ₹4,49,028.68 crore to the Gender Budget (GB), reflecting a 37.3% increase from the previous year.
• This allocation represents 8.86% of the total Budget, indicating a growing recognition of gender-related economic issues.
• However, a closer analysis reveals that this increase is primarily attributed to the inclusion of the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, which alone accounts for 24% of the GB.
• Crucially, this rise does not stem from substantial investments in care infrastructure or new gender-responsive programs, highlighting persistent gaps in addressing unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW) in India’s economic planning.

The Care Work Crisis: An Overlooked Economic Reality

• The Issue of Unpaid Labour
  • Globally, women disproportionately shoulder the burden of unpaid care work, spending an average of 17.8% of their time on such activities.
  • This imbalance is even more severe in the Global South, where women in countries like India face an exacerbated care burden.
  • Indian women, in particular, spend 40% more time on unpaid care and domestic work compared to their counterparts in South Africa and China.
  • The International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports that 53% of Indian women remain outside the formal labour force due to caregiving responsibilities, compared to a mere 1.1% of men.
  • This striking disparity underscores the deeply entrenched gender norms that confine women to unpaid labour, limiting their economic participation and reinforcing systemic inequalities.
• The Heavy Burden on Marginalised Women
  • For marginalised women in low-income households, the situation is even more dire.
  • Many juggle 17–19 hours of daily labour, balancing paid employment with domestic responsibilities.
  • This results in ‘time poverty,’ where women lack the time to invest in personal development, economic opportunities, or leisure, leading to significant health and well-being challenges.
  • Feminist economists from the Global South emphasise that unpaid work in these regions extends beyond household duties to include family farm work, water and fuel collection, and sanitation-related tasks.
  • Limited access to essential infrastructure forces women to spend up to 73% of their time on unpaid care activities, a reality exacerbated by climate change.
  • For instance, water-related unpaid labour in India is projected to cost $1.4 billion by 2050 under high-emission scenarios, a direct consequence of inadequate public investment in care infrastructure.

Missed Opportunities in Budget 2025

• Despite its record allocation, the Gender Budget for 2025 fails to make transformative investments in care infrastructure that could alleviate the burden on women.
• The Economic Surveys of 2023-24 and 2024-25 recognise care infrastructure as a cornerstone of women’s empowerment, yet the Budget does not translate this understanding into concrete fiscal measures.
• India’s continued oversight of the care economy reflects a broader global pattern where unpaid labour remains largely invisible in mainstream economic planning.
• A key recommendation from the Economic Survey 2023-24 is that a direct public investment of 2% of GDP in care infrastructure could generate 11 million jobs while reducing the care burden.
• However, the Budget does not take concrete steps toward this goal.

Policy Recommendations: The Three R Framework

• Recognizing Unpaid Care and Domestic Work
  • Recognition is the first step toward addressing unpaid labour. India’s 2019 Time Use Survey marked a milestone in quantifying the time women spend on UCDW, revealing an average of seven hours per day.
  • However, conducting such surveys regularly is expensive.
  • A cost-effective solution would be integrating time-use modules into existing household surveys to systematically track unpaid work and inform policy decisions.
• Reducing the Burden Through Infrastructure Investments
  • Reducing women’s care burden requires significant investments in time-saving technologies and affordable care services.
  • The government’s decision to extend the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) until 2028 is a positive step toward addressing gaps in water access, a major contributor to unpaid labour.
  • However, funding delays and underutilisation continue to hinder its implementation.
  • While the scheme’s budget saw a 195% increase over Revised Estimates (RE), it declined by 4.51% from last year’s Budget Estimates (BE), highlighting allocation-spending mismatches.
  • Stronger implementation measures and sustainability initiatives are necessary to ensure that women benefit from improved water access.
• Redistributing Care Work Beyond Households
  • Redistributing care responsibilities, from households to the State and society—is essential for achieving gender equality.
  • The newly announced ₹1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund, with ₹10,000 crore allocated for FY 2025-26, presents an opportunity to finance urban redevelopment projects, including water and sanitation improvements.
  • If leveraged effectively, this fund could help establish care infrastructure in urban centres, taking inspiration from Bogotá’s Care Blocks, which consolidate caregiving services to reduce women’s unpaid work.
  • Similar models could be integrated into India’s Smart Cities Mission to create gender-responsive urban spaces.

The Way Forward: The Need for Women’s Representation in Policy-Making

• Ensuring women’s representation in decision-making processes is critical to designing policies that reflect their lived experiences.
• Excluding women from policy formulation results in economic strategies that fail to address gender-specific challenges.
• Studies suggest that policies designed with women’s participation are six to seven times more effective in achieving gender-equitable outcomes.
• By encouragement of greater female leadership in governance, India can enhance the responsiveness and effectiveness of its gender policies.

Conclusion

• With its emphasis on Nari Shakti as a driver of economic growth, India has the potential to emerge as a global leader in gender-responsive economic planning.
• However, the 2025 Budget falls short of making care infrastructure a central pillar of its strategy.
• Recognising unpaid care work, investing in time-saving infrastructure, and redistributing caregiving responsibilities are critical steps in creating an inclusive economy.