Care Work in India
Valuing Unpaid Care
How economists estimate the value of unpaid household and care work, why it's excluded from GDP, and ideas like satellite accounts.
Unpaid care work is economically valuable but invisible in GDP.
Why it’s excluded
GDP counts market transactions. Cooking for your family isn’t counted; paying a cook is.
Estimating its value
- Replacement cost: what it would cost to hire someone.
- Opportunity cost: what the carer could earn in paid work.
Estimates
- Various studies suggest unpaid care work in India could be worth 15 to 40 percent of GDP, depending on methods.
- Globally, the ILO and others have estimated unpaid care at around 9 percent of global GDP or more.
Satellite accounts
Some countries publish household satellite accounts alongside GDP to show the value of unpaid work, using time use data.
Why it matters
- Policy: ignoring unpaid work can underestimate the costs of cutting public services, which shifts work to families.
- Recognition of women’s contribution.
- Divorce and compensation: courts sometimes consider the value of homemakers’ work. The Supreme Court in 2021 emphasised valuing homemakers’ work in accident compensation.
The homemaker's value
A court calculating compensation for a homemaker's death values her unpaid work at a notional monthly income, recognising its economic worth.
Thinking unpaid work has no economic value
It is worth a large share of GDP by estimates.
Key takeaways
- GDP excludes unpaid care work.
- Its value can be estimated by replacement or opportunity cost.
- Estimates suggest large shares of India's GDP.
- Satellite accounts and courts can recognise its value.
No recording for this one yet - EconReader can read it aloud for you.