Caregiving responsibilities are continuing to keep a large number of Indian women away from the labour market, with eight in 10 women choosing not to apply for jobs because they felt the roles would be difficult to manage alongside domestic and caregiving duties, according to a new survey by Indeed India.
The findings add to growing concerns among economists and social sector experts that India’s “unpaid care economy” remains one of the biggest barriers preventing women from fully participating in the workforce, even as companies push for greater gender diversity and flexible work arrangements.
The survey found that 83 per cent of respondents had decided against applying for jobs due to caregiving responsibilities, while 51 per cent said they had rejected job interviews or offers because of office attendance requirements.
The report highlights how flexibility is increasingly becoming a core employment condition rather than a workplace perk, particularly for women balancing careers with childcare, eldercare and household responsibilities.
“While caregiving responsibilities are shared across many households, the survey highlights how women in India continue to factor these demands into important career decisions,” Sashi Kumar, Managing Director at Indeed India, said in the report.
“Women remain ambitious, but many are increasingly selective about roles that fit the realities of caregiving. Employers that offer genuine flexibility and clearer expectations are better positioned to attract and retain them,” he added.
Flexibility Takes Centre Stage
Flexible working hours emerged as the top priority for 53 per cent of women respondents when evaluating jobs, followed by hybrid or remote work options at 48 per cent.
The survey also showed that many women were willing to compromise on salaries in exchange for better work-life balance. Nearly eight in 10 respondents said they would either accept lower pay or consider doing so if the role offered greater flexibility.
Among working mothers, 37 per cent identified hybrid or remote work as the single most important workplace change that could improve career opportunities.
The findings come as many companies across India gradually shift back towards office-based working models after years of remote and hybrid work arrangements introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Indeed’s report found that full-time office requirements were the biggest red flag for women evaluating jobs, cited by 37 per cent of respondents, followed by a lack of flexibility in job descriptions at 34 per cent.
Unpaid Care Work Remains Invisible
The survey’s findings align with broader research on India’s unpaid care economy, which economists say remains largely invisible in official GDP calculations despite underpinning much of the country’s workforce participation and household functioning.
According to the United Nations’ Gender Snapshot 2025 report, women globally continue to shoulder disproportionate care responsibilities, with women performing 2.5 times more unpaid domestic and care work than men. The report estimated that around 708 million women worldwide remain outside the labour force because of unpaid care responsibilities.
In India, the imbalance is even more pronounced. A 2019 report by the International Labour Organisation estimated that Indian women perform nearly 10 times more unpaid care work than men.
Aliva Das, Associate Director at Transform Rural India, had earlier said that unpaid care work continues to be treated as a private household matter rather than a productive economic activity, despite sustaining the workforce and compensating for underfunded public services.
“In rural India, women rise before dawn. They cook, fetch water, collect fuelwood, care for children, tend to the elderly, and often support farm work, all before they can think of earning an income,” Das had earlier told BW Businessworld.
Pallavi Gupta, Assistant Professor at Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics, had earlier said that infrastructure and policy support alone may not be sufficient unless household gender norms also evolve.
“Social norms presume women as the primary caregivers, and even when joint or extended families exist, social expectations frequently restrict women’s mobility or decision-making,” Gupta had earlier said.
Economic Cost of Low Participation
Economists have increasingly warned that India risks missing out on significant economic gains if women’s workforce participation remains constrained by caregiving burdens.
The International Monetary Fund has estimated that India’s GDP could rise by nearly 27 per cent by 2050 if women’s labour force participation matched that of men.
A study by the State Bank of India had earlier estimated that women’s unpaid work at home contributes the equivalent of 7.5 per cent of GDP, while other estimates place the broader value of unpaid care work at close to one-fifth of economic output if monetised.
Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of Population Foundation of India, had earlier said policymakers continue to underestimate women’s economic contributions because unpaid care work is excluded from national accounting systems.
“India’s GDP, like most national accounts, only measures paid, market-based activity. It systematically ignores the unpaid care, cooking, cleaning, childcare and elder care that women provide every single day,” Muttreja had earlier said.
The Indeed survey found that 59 per cent of respondents believe workplace flexibility has genuinely improved career opportunities for mothers in India, while another 30 per cent said it has helped somewhat.
However, analysts say sustained gains in women’s employment may depend not only on workplace flexibility but also on broader investments in childcare, eldercare and social support systems that reduce the unpaid care burden on women. |
