ItemArticle

Unpaid care labour in India: a feminist and intersectional analysis of lived experiences

Title
Unpaid care labour in India: a feminist and intersectional analysis of lived experiences
Creator
Jose, Ajay; Mathew, Sonia; Rejikumar, G.; Mariya James, Jelin
Description
The article offers an expanded feminist analysis of Unpaid Care Labour (UCL) by integrating a personal narrative style grounded in feminist theory, intersectionality, and ecological economics, drawing on qualitative data from five focus group discussions conducted in India. Through participant narratives, the article unpacks themes such as time poverty and the double burden, health implications and emotional well-being , economic dependency and intersectional inequities, cultural policing and social norms, and transformative pathways and policy gaps. While participants articulated the strain of time poverty and the double burden of juggling paid and unpaid work, the intensity and coping mechanisms varied markedly by caste and class context. Lower-caste women faced compounded strain due to limited support and infrastructure; in contrast, upper-caste women experienced emotional stress from societal expectations. The study foregrounds how caste-based hierarchies, economic precarity, and patriarchal norms intersect to shape womens caregiving realities in differentiated yet overlapping ways. It argues that public policy must move beyond tokenistic acknowledgements and instead invest in care infrastructure, legal protections for domestic workers, and campaigns that shift cultural perceptions of care as a shared societal responsibility. Recognizing, redistributing, and reducing UCL is essential to fostering gender justice and inclusive development. 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Source
Journal of Gender Studies;
Date
01-01-2025
Publisher
Routledge
Subject
feminist analysis; gender inequality; patriarchal structures; policy reforms; Unpaid care labour
Coverage
Jose A., School of Business & Management, CHRIST University, Bengaluru, India; Mathew S., School of Business & Management, CHRIST University, Bengaluru, India; Rejikumar G., Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kerala, Kochi, India; Mariya James J., School of Business & Management, CHRIST University, Bengaluru, India
Rights
Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library
Relation
ISSN: 9589236;
Format
online
Language
English
Type
Article

Citation

Jose, Ajay; Mathew, Sonia; Rejikumar, G.; Mariya James, Jelin, “Unpaid care labour in India: a feminist and intersectional analysis of lived experiences,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 18, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/22675.

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