“What did you do all day?” A question that most homemakers are tired of hearing, always said with the assumption that she must have done nothing but laze around watching TV or gossiping all day, while the man of the house was slogging at work.  

Cook to please each family member’s palate.  Wash, dry, fold everyone’s clothes…the whites whitest, bright brightest. Sweep, dust, mop the house to dazzling clean. Extend tender loving care to the kids, the elderly, the parents and provide smiling hospitality to all who may drop in. In the village, also fetch firewood and water, feed the farm animals, milk the cows…

A cook would charge at least 10K per month, a cleaner 5K, a dhobi 2K, a tutor 10K, a nanny 15 K, a care-giver 25K… 

So a home-maker is actually doing unpaid work amounting to roughly 50K per month.  

Countless, innumerable back-breaking chores. All for free! No time off, no leaves.Unacknowledged. Unrecognized.

It’s time to change this. Join us. Sign our petition.

By ignoring it, we underestimate women’s contribution to the economy. The 2019 Time Use in India calculated that women spend nearly 299 minutes a day on unpaid domestic services versus 97 minutes spent by men. Similarly, women spend 134 minutes on unpaid care versus 76 minutes spent by men. The situation in our own homes confirms this. We see it all around us. 

As the next step to the ‘Time Use in India’ study, there is a need to estimate and quantify the economic contributions of homemakers. Sign our petition urging the government to assess and quantify the contributions of homemakers to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Calculating an average salary for homemakers will highlight homemakers' contributions to the economy and help inform policies and the compensation that homemakers deserve.

Sign and share this petition so that lakhs of people join this cause. Public support will help us persuade the government to begin the process of recognising and valuing the contributions of millions of homemakers, including the ones who raised us, for the first time in history. 

#AllWorkNoPayNotOk