Caregiving and India’s Care Economy

 GS-II | Social Justice | Health | Vulnerable Sections | Government Policies and Interventions

Why in News?

• Over the next twenty years, as the age profile of Canada’s population shifts older, so too does the importance of caregiving and the need for formal training for those who provide such services. This is why the Budget 2026-27 was able to highlight this issue in a timely fashion when it announced the training of 1.5 million caregivers (or 150,000) based on the National Skills Qualifications Framework.
• The NITI Aayog’s August 2026 report “Reimagining Care: Strategies for Empowering Caregivers in Viksit Bharat@2047” frames caregiving as an economic activity rather than just welfare work. This is the first time that such an intention is explicitly articulated by the Government at a national policy level; this indicates that the urgency has been acknowledged by policymakers.

Caregiving in India: Current Scenario

• Ageing Population: The elderly population of India is currently estimated to be about 149 million (as of 2022) and will reach nearly 347 million by 2050, representing approximately 20.8 percent of the country’s total population.
• Untrained and Unpaid Caregivers: Assuming NITI Aayog’s estimate of 10% of today’s population as being untrained and unpaid caregivers, this means there are currently approximately 146 million of such individuals.
• Training Gap: Even with 1.5 lakh formally trained workforce, it’s like a drop in the ocean compared to the number of people needed today. Without planning right now, the caregiving ecosystem will face a major crisis.

Gender Parity in Caregiving

• Joint Family System: For centuries, India did not have to establish a long-term care program since there was already an informal program called the joint family. This informal program consisted of three generations living together as a single household. This was essentially a form of insurance, and the members of the family would voluntarily participate.
• Changing Family Structure: In today’s society of “micro-family” units, it is generally the housewife (and occasionally the husband) that will be taking on the additional role of being a caregiver without any previous experience or education. They learn through experimentation and, unfortunately, through mistakes.
• Household Stress: Combined with managing their own household chores, these types of circumstances greatly increase household stress.
• Elderly and Disabled: Approximately 26.8 million elderly and disabled people are being kept alive by the devotion, concern, and kindness of these family members/friends who provide uncompensated, informal care.
• Gender Gap in Unpaid Work: An NSO (National Sample Survey Office) survey found that on average women spend 299 minutes each day doing unpaid household chores and caring for family members while men spend only 97 minutes.
• Formal Training Program: There needs to be a recognition that both men and women take on the responsibility of providing care to others. Therefore, there needs to be a formal training program developed specifically for those who provide care. This program should cover such topics as identifying when an event related to aging occurs in an older adult requiring intervention; assessing the needs of the individual receiving care; developing protocols for continuous monitoring; providing emergency care; and delivering psychological interventions. It would be beneficial if at least two members of each family attend this type of program to help facilitate the sharing of responsibilities and tasks associated with providing care.

Skilling and Upskilling

• Need for Formal Training of Caregivers: In order to create a large number of formally trained caregivers in the next several years, we must begin immediately.
• Kudumbashree and K4 Care: In India there are two systems (one being a state mission called Kudumbashree and the second being K4 Care) working at a very small level, but both have yet to be tested.
• ASHA Workers: Another group of workers are the ASHA workers, for whom the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) developed a Training Manual on Elderly Care. This manual is used to deliver training to ASHA workers through the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres.
• Geriatric mental health: Care provided by family members, friends, etc., may be something other than physical help (e.g., helping with mobility, managing medications). When an individual experiences age-related cognitive impairment — as in the cases of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s — there are also many emotional issues associated with this.
• Comprehensive National Curriculum: A national curriculum should include geriatric mental health and behavior management as well as protocols for the physical care of older adults.

Way Forward

• Recognition and Training: Millions of unpaid, non-professional family caregivers exist. We must acknowledge and train these individuals as formal caregivers.
• Training via Current Networks: Those that have received formal training such as the Kudumbashree and ASHA workers, can provide training for additional individuals so that the process may be continued.
• National Caregiver Council (NCC):The National Caregiver Council (NCC) can be an overarching body, according to the NITI Aayog report.
• Standardisation and Regulation: This includes setting standards for skills developed, overseeing the updates to training programs, standardising educational curricula, developing relevant FAQs, and managing a national caregiver portal that contains a database of all registered caregivers.
• The announcement of this program as a Budget measure was merely the beginning; the ultimate success of this program will depend on how well it is implemented at the community level.

Conclusion

• Transforming India’s care economy is an economic opportunity that has yet to be realized.
• The creation of a thriving ecosystem will allow India to transform its informal commitment to education into formal expertise that has a high degree of economic value.
• Like Sreeni, there are millions of people who receive formal training to manage the problems related to caring for the elderly. This training provides respect and recognition within their relationships with those they care for.
• India is known throughout the world for having an outstanding group of healthcare nursing professionals. In addition to being a leader in this area, India has developed a model of caring for the elderly that can be used as a compassionate alternative to the numerous other models that exist today.

UPSC Mains Practice Question

Q1: The growing elderly population of India emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the role of informal caregivers and providing formal education/training for those individuals. Discuss the obstacles to caregiving in India and propose solutions to increase gender equity, enhance skills, and create a strong care economy.

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