Setting the Context of Care Work
The unequal distribution of unpaid care work remains one of the most persistent barriers to gender equality globally. Care work, which includes both direct personal care activities and indirect household tasks, is crucial for sustaining daily life and social reproduction. Yet, women worldwide spend three times more hours than men on unpaid care work. This disparity represents a significant market failure – while care work is essential for the functioning of the economy, its invisibility and undervaluation lead to inefficient allocation of skilled workers, particularly women, causing their withdrawal from the formal workforce.
The gender gap in unpaid care work is particularly stark in South Asia. In India, women spend 5.6 hours on unpaid work daily versus 30 minutes for men, the highest among G20 nations. Similar patterns emerge across the region – in Bangladesh, women contribute 80% of unpaid care work, while in Bhutan, women spend 2.5 times more hours than men on such activities. Nepal follows this regional trend, with women spending six times more hours than men on unpaid care work.
However, this challenge presents Nepal with a unique opportunity for economic growth and women’s empowerment. According to International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates, direct public investment equivalent to 2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the care sector can potentially generate 11 million jobs in Nepal, which are nearly 70% likely to be filled by women. The country’s recent Time Use Survey (2019) revealed that women of working age spend 5.9 hours daily on domestic work versus just 2.25 hours for men. Strategic investments in care infrastructure could free up women’s time for formal employment while simultaneously creating new jobs in the care services sector – thereby boosting Nepal’s female labor force participation rate from its current level of 28.7% in 2023.
Nepal has already taken important first steps toward addressing this issue. The country conducted its first comprehensive Time Use Survey in 2019. This data has provided crucial insights into gender gaps in time use across different social groups. Building on this foundation, Nepal hosted an ILO-UN Women policy dialogue in 2023, highlighting the need for increased care infrastructure investment to meet the rising demands of Nepal’s evolving demographic landscape, which will see substantial growth in elderly populations by 2050.
A Strategic Framework for Nepal’s Care Economy
Drawing insights from regional experiences, India’s recent strategy for the care economy, also reiterated in the Economic Survey of FY 2023/24 AD, has proposed a five-pillar approach for developing its care economy, focusing on leave policies, care service subsidies, infrastructure investment, skill development, and quality assurance mechanisms. This framework, which builds on global best practices from both developed and emerging economies, offers valuable lessons for Nepal in transforming its care economy.
Currently, Nepal requires greater public sector investment in care infrastructure and services, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Regional examples show how government initiatives can effectively support care services. For instance, the Palna scheme in India aims to establish 17,000 creches at Anganwadi centers to serve bottom of the pyramid populations, especially in rural areas. Several state governments have already partnered with the national Ministry of Women and Child Development to implement this scheme.
Yet, the government alone cannot serve the needs of Nepal’s diverse and distributed population. Care infrastructure development requires both public and private investment. For instance, Bhutan’s Gelephu Child Care Centre demonstrates the potential of private initiatives. This Early Child Care and Development (ECCD) center serves 92 children with flexible hours and has catalyzed a network of 80 privately run centers to even form an industry association of ECCD providers under the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In addition to investing in expanding ECCD centers, the association is also advising the Royal Government of Bhutan on ECCD curriculum development and skill training of ECCD workers.
Moreover, legal frameworks setting quality standards and regulations are an important instrument for quality assurance. Bangladesh’s Child Daycare Centre Act 2021 offers a template, requiring private sector childcare service providers to register with the government and meet minimum service delivery and infrastructure standards. Nepal could adapt this model while strengthening civil society organizations’ capabilities to manage community-level care infrastructure.
Financing these initiatives requires innovative approaches. Developed nations often support care services through tax incentives – both individual credits for parents and corporate concessions for providing childcare benefits. Nepal could adopt similar measures alongside novel funding mechanisms like diaspora bonds – specialized securities issued to Nepalese citizens abroad – to create dedicated funding streams for care infrastructure. Additionally, a targeted subsidy program could support women-led civil society organizations in establishing and operating care facilities, particularly in underserved areas.
Workforce development is also crucial for sustainable growth of the care sector. Japan’s comprehensive two-year care worker training program, combining classroom learning with on-the-job training and guaranteed employment placement, offers a practical model. Nepal could adapt this framework while developing a three-tier approach: skilling new entrants, reskilling workers from other sectors, and upskilling existing professionals. This would not only meet domestic needs but could position Nepal as a source of qualified care workers globally.
To implement these interventions effectively, Nepal needs strong institutional support systems for the care economy: introducing incentives for community organizations to operate childcare facilities, creating corporate tax credits for women-led Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises providing care services, and formally recognizing private ECCDs as an industry. These efforts also rely on strengthening sex-disaggregated data collection on employment and long-term care work, as was done by India and Bangladesh.
Success in implementing these recommendations depends on coordinated action between government agencies, private sector, and community organizations. The National Planning Commission, the National Statistics Office, and the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens (MoWCSC) could lead this effort, working closely with other relevant ministries to develop integrated care policies that address both immediate needs and long-term development goals.
Conclusion
Developing Nepal’s care economy requires an “all-of-society” approach that extends beyond government initiatives. While government leadership is crucial, private sector participation and community engagement are equally vital in building and maintaining care infrastructure and services.
Investment in care services can offer a triple dividend to Nepal: beyond addressing women’s low workforce participation, it can create quality employment in a labor-intensive sector while improving critical human development outcomes in health and education. As Nepal charts its development path, strengthening the care economy must be seen not just as a social welfare measure, but as a crucial economic goal.
Bio: Mitali Nikore, a pioneering economist with over 12+ years of experience, specializes in gender mainstreaming, development finance, and sustainable infrastructure development. She is the founder of Nikore Associates and advises leading multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and GIZ, as well as several G20 bodies including Think20, Women20, and Urban20. Vandhana Ramesh is an economics researcher specializing in gender mainstreaming and inclusive development policy. As a Senior Research Associate at Nikore Associates, she leads research and field teams in projects spanning various sectors such as India's platform economy, logistics, and MSMEs. Brinda Juneja is an economics researcher with experience in gender mainstreaming and policy analysis. She is currently working at Nikore Associates as a research manager and with the World Bank’s Global Practice Transport team as a junior consultant. She is in charge of leading the team in research projects spanning diverse domains within the development sector such as the care economy.
