Background

In Indian society, raising a child is dubbed the primary responsibility of a woman. The question of whether to work for millions of Indian women, thus, also becomes a question of who will look after their children. Data from India’s Time Use Survey 2024 conducted by the National Statistics Office points out that only 25 per cent of women aged 15 to 59 were engaged in employment-related activities. This is significantly lower than the figures of women’s employment in developed countries. 

A study using data from the 2019 Time Use Survey further measures this gap: for each additional hour a woman spends on unpaid care work, her odds of being employed are lowered by 27 per cent, of being self-employed by 38 per cent, and of pursuing higher education by 34 per cent. Childcare is the most demanding part of that load, and for women in socio-economically disadvantaged communities, there is a dearth of reliable and affordable alternatives. Private arrangements like crèches are inaccessible because of high costs and also because they often keep hours that do not match a working day. Women, thus, have to rely on fragile informal arrangements such as neighbours and relatives. The resulting effect is that women turn down jobs, abandon training programs, skip health check-ups, impose restrictions on their mobility, not for lack of ability or aspiration, but because they are entrusted with the responsibility of raising their children.

Women’s Opportunity Lab was founded to address this gap, and making childcare accessible and envisioning it as a bridge to employment, education and independence for women in marginalized communities