According to the latest report from the International Labour Organization (ILO), 53% of Indian women remain outside the labor force due to caregiving duties, underscoring a need for substantial investment in the care economy, especially in early childhood care and education (ECCE), to enhance gender equality in the workforce. Released last week, the report titled The Impact of Care Responsibilities on Women’s Labour Participation notes that only 1.1% of men in India stay out of the workforce for caregiving, while a large number of women are engaged in unpaid household work.
Countries like Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Mali, and India have more than half of their female population outside the labor force due to caregiving. In contrast, nations such as Belarus, Bulgaria, Latvia, and Sweden have lower rates, largely due to ECCE investments that amount to approximately 1% of their GDP.
The report also highlighted that 97.8% of Indian women and 91.4% of men remain outside the labor force due to personal or family reasons. According to the 2023-24 Periodic Labour Force Survey, 36.7% of Indian women and 19.4% of the workforce are engaged in unpaid household work, reflecting similar findings from the 2019 Time Use Survey by the National Statistical Office, which showed that 81% of females (aged 6+) spend over five hours daily on unpaid domestic work, with the figure reaching 92% for those aged 15-59.
For caregiving specifically, 26.2% of females spend over two hours daily, more than double the 12.4% for men in the same age bracket. Global ILO estimates reveal that 708 million women are out of the workforce due to caregiving, compared to just 40 million men. The report also noted that women with lower education levels and those in rural areas face heightened challenges in joining the workforce due to limited job opportunities, poor infrastructure, and societal norms around caregiving roles, which exacerbate gender inequality.
Regionally, Northern Africa has the highest percentage of women citing care responsibilities for workforce exclusion (63%), followed by the Arab States (59%) and Asia-Pacific (52%). In contrast, Europe and Central Asia report lower rates, with just 21% of women citing caregiving as their main barrier to employment.
