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The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Panel, EAC-PM, has called for an overhaul of the frameworks related to the care sector, with the demand for caregivers in the country projected to exceed 30 million by 2050.
The PM’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC-PM) also decided to set up a dedicated fund and build a skilled and well-paid care workforce.
In a working paper entitled “Re-imagining the care economy: From private burden to social and economic infrastructure”, the EAC-PM also called for channeling corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds into care projects.
She also proposed the establishment of a “Caregiver Fund”, which would offer entrepreneurs and cooperatives financing at preferential rates.
In addition, the paper recommended that the Ministry of Labor and Employment introduce gradual reforms to parental leave, starting with statutory paid paternity leave in the private sector, followed by a gender-balanced parental leave policy.
She also highlighted the need to expand innovative financing for the development of care infrastructure and “carers”.
The paper proposed setting up of a results-based government (G2G) fund, Parivar Seva Kosh (Family Care Fund), under the Finance Ministry.
Investing in the care economy presents three interrelated opportunities for India, the paper said, adding: “First, the care sector can generate significant employment in both domestic and global markets with growing demand for care workers.”
“Second, greater investment in the care economy can deepen family-friendly policies that reduce time poverty, cushion household income shocks from childcare, particularly in the informal sector, and increase care workforce participation,” the report says.
The paper also says that investments in the care economy can redistribute unpaid care responsibilities from households to the state and markets, while gender-neutral policies can actively promote the sharing of care work between men and women.
India’s demographic profile is shifting, with an increasing proportion of older people and declining fertility rates, coupled with rapid urbanization that is disrupting the traditional family structures that have historically provided care.
Indian states are at different stages of this demographic transition – from high dependency on children to accelerating dependency on the elderly.
Despite women’s unpaid care and domestic work accounting for 15-17% of GDP in economic value, investment in formal care provision remains limited, the paper said, adding that formal care is systematically insufficient and often expensive due to fundamental market failures.
Published – May 5, 2026 6:35 PM IST
