Care economy in India: EAC-PM working paper lays out a roadmap

A working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) has proposed setting up a dedicated fund, building of a skilled and well remunerated care workforce, reforms in policy framework for care economy and establishing quality standards as part of inter-ministerial care architecture needed to give a boost to care economy in the country.

The paper has pegged the domestic demand for care workers to exceed 30 million by 2050 alongside a significant rise in international demand for care workers.

The paper, Re-imagining the Care Economy: From Private Burden to Social and Economic Infrastructure, has been co-authored by Shamika Ravi, member of EAC-PM, Mitali Nikore, who is the founder and chief economist at Nikore Associates, Dr. Bhabesh Hazarika, economist at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and Sindhuja Penumarty, young professional at EAC-PM.


Mooting the expansion of innovative financing for the development of care infrastructure and “carepreneurs”, the paper has proposed setting up an outcome-based government-to-government (G2G) fund, Parivar Seva Kosh (Family Care Fund), to be housed within the finance ministry.

Besides, it proposes directing the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds towards care sector projects and setting up of ‘Carepreneur Fund’ to offer finance at concessional rates to care entrepreneurs and co-operatives.

“Model concession agreements can be developed to operationalise public private partnerships (PPPs) for investments in greenfield and brownfield care facilities,” it said, adding there is a need for standardise trainings, certifications, and occupational frameworks for childcare and eldercare to create a pool of skilled workforce for the sector.

According to the paper, the ministry of labour and employment (MoLE) can introduce phased reforms in parental leaves beginning with statutory paid paternal leaves in the private sector, followed by a gender balanced parental leave policy.

The ministry of cooperation can designate care as a priority sector, and provide model regulatory guidelines for development of care co-operatives,” it said, adding care infrastructure can be embedded within urban planning by classifying it as ‘essential social infrastructure’, it said.

The authors are of the view that investment in the care sector can generate significant employment in both domestic and global markets and can deepen family-friendly policies that reduce time poverty, cushion households from childcare income shocks especially in the informal sector, and raise caregiver labour force participation.

Besides, it can redistribute unpaid care responsibilities and actively encourage sharing of care labour between men and women.