UPSC Mains 2023 GS3 Q12: model answer

Care economy: all work that looks after people: raising children, caring for the elderly and sick, cooking and cleaning. Much of it is unpaid and done by women at home, so it is not counted in GDP.

Monetised economy: all goods and services exchanged for money in the market, and counted in GDP.

Key differences

• Payment: care work is largely unpaid; monetised work is paid.
• Visibility: care is missing from national accounts; monetised work is measured.
• Gender: care falls mostly on women; men dominate paid work.
• Protection: unpaid carers get no wages, pensions or social security.

India's Time Use Survey 2019 found women spend about 5 hours a day on unpaid domestic and care work against roughly 1.5 hours for men.

Bringing care into the monetised economy through women's empowerment

• Skill and certify care work: courses for nursing assistants, elder-care and childcare under Skill India, with recognised qualifications.
• Public childcare: anganwadi-cum-crèches under Mission Palna and workplace crèches under the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 create paid care jobs and free women for other work.
• Fair pay for frontline carers: regular wages and social security for ASHA and anganwadi workers.
• Collectives: SHGs and cooperatives running care services, like Kerala's Kudumbashree.
• Platforms: gig platforms for home care, with social security under the Code on Social Security, 2020.
• Shared care: paternity leave and campaigns to share housework.
• Measurement: satellite accounts to value unpaid care in GDP.

The ILO's '5R' approach (recognise, reduce, redistribute, reward and represent) can turn invisible care into decent work and raise female labour force participation.