Intro: This week's Socio-economic Voice is Mitali Nikore, Founder and Chief Economist at Nikore Associates. Speaking to Mahima Sharma of Indiastat, she helps uncover the deeper aspects of India's unpaid care economy, women labour force participation, gig platform reforms, digital divide, gender responsive urban mobility, MSME finance gap, automation risks, AI impact on women jobs and policy solutions shaping inclusive economic growth across India and G20 economies today. Read on the exclusive now…

MS: India’s unpaid care economy is now estimated to account for a significant share of GDP, yet remains largely unrecognised in formal statistics. What policy levers (social protection, care services infrastructure, labour rights) are most urgent to unlock this economic value and increase women’s paid work participation without simply increasing public expenditure?

MN: Using Time Use Survey evidence, at our organisation we have estimated that India’s unpaid care economy amounts to 15–17% of GDP. Yet it remains largely invisible in formal statistics and economic metrics. Women spend nearly ten times more time than men on unpaid care and domestic work. This directly restricts their ability to participate in paid employment. In the T2O policy brief titled ‘Leveraging Care Economy Investments to Unlock Economic Development and Foster Women’s Economic Empowerment in G20 Economies’, I have clarified how this oversight can morph into ‘market failure’ where households absorb care costs privately, while the economy loses women’s productivity and employment potential.

Compatible, gender-sensitive infrastructure can bridge the current care service gap by reducing imposed care responsibilities on women. The most urgent policy solution is not higher public spending, but smarter, gender-responsive design.

First, India must recognise and strengthen existing care systems by investing in community-based care infrastructure through SHGs, NGOs and public-private partnerships. This reduces women’s unpaid burden without it becoming a fully state-funded system. By mobilising women and generating employment through care service provision, these demands can be met without raising public expenditure.

Second, formalising care work through labour rights, predictable wages and access to social protection can convert invisible labour into stable employment, especially for domestic workers.

Next, labour market reforms are critical. Shifting from employer-funded maternity leave to gender-neutral parental leave supported by insurance mechanisms can reduce hiring bias against women, particularly in MSMEs. Together, these policy levers of recognition, redistribution and reform can unlock the economic value of care while enabling more women to enter and remain in paid work.

As I have mentioned in the T20 policy brief, the way forward is for G20 economies is to “commit to affirming care as ‘a critical social good and an essential human right.”

MS: To what extent could formalising and digitising care work (such as through app-based care marketplaces) shift women from unpaid to paid work? And what safeguards are needed to ensure decent wages, social security and quality standards in this emerging care economy?

MN: Formalising and digitising care work could significantly shift women from unpaid to paid work, unlocking a pool of labour that currently remains outside formal markets. In the IT for Change – National Gender Fellowship Track 2 Compendium of Long-Form Essays (2023), I have studied and mentioned in the Women Entrepreneurs and the Digital Economy section. I assert that women’s exclusion from digital platforms stems from “systematic denial of access to technology, digital services and the benefits of online marketplaces.” This constrains women’s ability to monetise their labour and participation in the economy.

Applied to care work, app-based care marketplaces can convert hours spent on unpaid care into paid services by mapping demand, standardising pricing, reducing search costs and enabling one-click bookings. This mirrors how digital platforms have expanded labour opportunities in other sectors by lowering entry barriers and improving market visibility. However, safeguards are essential.

Portable social security including health insurance, pensions and maternity benefits tied to the worker rather than the platform, must be embedded to protect gig-style care workers. Platforms must also enforce quality standards, background checks and grievance redressal to ensure decent wages, safety and trust in care provision. When paired with digital literacy and access initiatives, this approach could formalise care work while enhancing women’s economic autonomy.

MS: Recent industry voices note that lack of safe, affordable transport and accommodations deter women’s factory and shift work participation. What are the most cost-effective urban mobility designs or policy experiments that can measurably improve women’s labour mobility?

MN: Recent evidence shows that women’s participation in factory and shift-based work is not constrained by willingness to work, but by how cities move and house them.

As an economist, I have noted something on gender-responsive urban mobility that, “women’s labour force participation is deeply shaped by the safety, affordability and timing of transport systems,” especially for early-morning and late-night shifts. Our research highlights that factory and shift work requires predictable, safe and low-cost mobility at non-standard hours, something most urban transport systems are not designed for. Furthermore, in the World Bank Toolkit on Gender-Responsive Urban Mobility, I have noted that “women’s work trips are shorter, more frequent and more time-constrained, yet public transport systems rarely align with these patterns.” This mismatch disproportionately excludes women from industrial and manufacturing jobs.

Among the most cost-effective solutions identified are targeted bus fare subsidies, route rationalisation to industrial clusters and improved last-mile safety infrastructure such as lighting and staffed stops. My study Beyond Free Rides shows that transport subsidies reduce women’s travel costs and increase regular workforce participation, particularly in low-income and shift-dependent employment. The evidence is clear: when cities design mobility around women’s shift realities, factory floors gain workers and urban economies gain productivity.

MS: India’s platform economy could boost flexible income for women but deep digital divides persist. How should national and state strategies combine digital skills, access to devices and platform accountability to ensure platform work doesn’t replicate existing inequalities?

MN: According to the 2019 Time Use Survey, India's platform economy promises flexible income. But it also digitises care-time poverty: women log 577 unpaid daily minutes compared to 125 for men, with 27.6% being prevented from gigs by domestic responsibilities and 4-in-10 enduring hybrid burnout as a result of blurred boundaries.

Interesting fact: Hybrid setups make people feel more alone.

According to LEAD consultations, 43% of women in India who live in FLFPRs report feeling lonely because they are too far away from home. As the lead author of "Hybrid Work and its Effect on Women's Labour Force Participation" (LEAD, 2023) demonstrates, sequential fails:

• access without skills trains exploitation
• skills without regulations breeds precarity
• both without care doubles burdens

PMKVY gig tracks teach app navigation, rights literacy, income smoothing in regional languages with crèche links;

Rajasthan Gig Act plus Karnataka penalties mandates transparent algorithms killing 34% pay gaps; hourly floors and 24-hour harassment response.

MS: How might public policy or private platform design ensure that women don’t get locked into low-pay, precarious gig roles, but instead are supported toward higher-value digital participation and entrepreneurship?

MN: Beauty/domestic roles in India pay 34% less than men's, averaging 18,000 to 20,000 rupees per month and 77.6% less than 2.5 lakh rupees per year.

Urban Company's 50,000 rupee upfront fees and 25% commissions reduce earnings to 15,000 rupees as safety rejections rise.

According to Ola Institute data, an interesting fact is that algorithmic "safety matching" rejects women for high-value tasks 2.3 times more frequently, locking 28% of female participation into precarity while letting men access 40% of premium gigs. As the lead author of "Hybrid Work and its Effect on Women's Labor Force Participation: Policy Review" (LEAD/IFMR, 2023) explains, volatility without minima institutionalises debt traps, so platform redesign and public policy must combine enforcement and pathways.

Mandate algorithm transparency through gender audits every two years to punish bias and prohibit auto-accepts that erode autonomy in the urban style with 200-250 metro hourly floors (150-180 Tier-II auto-topped per active hour).

NITI's Platform 100 scales with 50,000-2 lakh grants for 2-year veterans transitioning to ventures, prioritising PMKVY 50% allocation; platforms with more than 10,000 tasks per month fund 2% transaction levies for women's upskilling in digital marketing and content (eliminating 50,000 entry fees via 10% earning deductions).

While auto-qualifying low-skill workers to training or advanced tasks after X hours and granting data ownership for portfolios, platforms build portable benefits like interoperable ratings, certifications and social security across apps.

SEWA-backed women's cooperatives with 1-2 crore seed and procurement priority also benefit from these benefits. Embed harassment shields such as auto-flags, one-touch alerts, verified customers, abuser bans with compensation, safety over ratings. Without this simultaneity, gigs digitise exploitation atop care burdens and regs without skills perpetuate low-end lock-in.

MS: While women’s participation in sectors like logistics and manufacturing remains low, demographic and productivity imperatives are pressing — what specific incentives (skill subsidies, employer mandates, safety infrastructure) have proven effective in spurring real jobs for women in high-growth sectors like semiconductors and pharmaceuticals?

MN: While women currently comprise only 1.1% of the workforce in transport and storage, this high-growth sector is expected to generate 3 million additional jobs by 2027.

The core challenge to overcome is the "perception issue" that characterises logistics as a male-only domain. In our research-based report, "Enabling Women’s Participation in India’s Logistics Sector," we provide a roadmap that reimagines India’s logistics sector at an ecosystem level.

Institutional-Level interventions focus on establishing Gender Labs to oversee the implementation of initiatives and monitor tasks. The Chennai Gender and Policy Lab (GPL), established in 2022 by the Greater Chennai Corporation, serves as a best practice case for this. It has successfully enhanced women’s safety and access to public spaces. Such initiatives must take place alongside the formulation of structured Gender Action Plans (GAPs) to institutionalise gender mainstreaming.

Policy and Regulatory Interventions emphasise the need for annual gender lens reviews, safety audits of all facilities and the collection of gender-disaggregated data to create a centralised repository for evidence-based policymaking. To address physical barriers, Infrastructure Interventions suggest creating gender-responsive facilities under the purview of national initiatives like PM GatiShakti.

Services aimed at supporting women include the creation of a "Digital Marketplace" job portal and the evaluation of financing schemes for female entrepreneurs and MSMEs with a specific gender lens.

Finally, interventions in Skill Training and Capacity Building recommend identifying industrial clusters for localised training, facilitating partnerships between industry and government and employing more female trainers in institutes to overcome traditional gender stereotyping.

MS: Evidence is suggesting women’s jobs are more at risk from automation and AI than men's. What proactive strategies are essential to ensure AI becomes an equaliser rather than a driver of gender inequality?

MN: Women’s high risk stems from occupational segregation and likelihood of automation in sectors where they are concentrated. Indian women are often limited to roles associated with low productivity and wages, such as agricultural labour, handicrafts and nursing. This occupational segregation makes them particularly vulnerable to mechanisation, which disproportionately impacts female workers.

As machinery is introduced, it is observed that men frequently take over those activities, leading to the gradual displacement of women. Consequently, an estimated 12 million Indian women could lose their jobs by 2030 due to automation in agriculture, forestry and transportation.

While primary education has improved, the lack of progress in tertiary and vocational training hinders women’s ability to transition into more technical, automation-resistant roles.

We have published a report on Women’s Human Capital, focusing on the various factors affecting women’s participation in the Indian economy. Our study identifies four essential drivers influencing the career aspirations of young women: Education, Health, Institutional support and Family support.

Strengthening vocational training is critical to overcoming "gendered skill development" and preparing women for a digital economy. Gender Budgeting has historically accounted for only about 0.7% of the GDP. Expanding this number could provide the necessary funding for large-scale reskilling initiatives. Addressing the systematic under-reporting of women’s economic contributions through more accurate data enumeration is vital for informed policy. Consequently, this ensures that biases or data gaps in algorithms do not further entrench the labour market inequalities prevalent in the economy.

MS: Digital literacy and digital ownership gaps remain large barriers. Which all targeted investments or regulatory nudges could most rapidly increase women’s digital participation in the economy and close this divide?

MN: We did consultations with women’s groups across 15 states in the country. It showed that young girls were often the last to get access to a shared household smartphone, for the least amount of time and most likely to have their usage monitored.

This lack of exposure is directly linked to a lack of digital literacy. Women can't work in offices without being able to navigate Word or Excel. They can't become entrepreneurs if they don't know how to use online payment apps on phones. And they can't venture into digital marketing without learning how to use social media. In my article for Outlook India, titled "Gender Gaps Are Narrowing In Education, But Is This Enough For Digital India?", I highlight 3 major strategies that could help close the divide.

The first is a national “Beti Padhao, Beti ko Phone Dilao” movement. This mass digital literacy programme can be backed by targeted investments, such as concessional smartphone loans by state governments.

Secondly, schools must leverage CSR partnerships to improve internet readiness and upskill teachers in industry-relevant tools and AI.

Finally, regulatory nudges should include the mass media celebration of women in STEM role models to dismantle occupational segregation. With 86% of businesses expecting AI-driven transformations by 2025, these investments are vital to ensuring women participate as true digital natives in the evolving economy.

MS: Despite growth in women-led MSMEs, access to formal finance and market lags, how can public policy, financial institutions and private sector platforms collectively redesign credit? How can they also assure better market access and supply chain integration for women entrepreneurs?

MN: Currently, there is a $20.5 billion financing gap for women-owned MSMEs, driven by restrictive collateral requirements. Our report "Linking Indian MSMEs and Women-led Enterprises with Global Value Chains" gives a 4-pillar recommendation framework to facilitate women-led enterprises. One of our major suggestions is that the Government of India establish a ‘Women in Trade Finance Fund’. This fund could deploy three key instruments to address specific challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.

The first is Credit Guarantees. These cover a specific percentage of loan defaults to reduce risk for banks, encouraging them to provide more working capital to women entrepreneurs.

Next is Concessional Loans. Funding at lower interest rates with longer grace periods will help businesses during critical growth stages.

Finally, Digital Grants. These offer financial support for women to adopt online sales platforms and digital operations systems.

Public sector banks could serve as anchor institutions, simplifying applications and accepting alternative collateral like GST invoices and purchase orders.

Industry associations can hold awareness and trust-building sessions involving women-led MSMEs in trade and local banks, to enable access to trade finance and working capital loans.

This idea can be extended further into a flagship “Women in Trade program”, where cohorts of women are selected across sectors and clusters for exposure visits, training and financing in partnership with select foreign governments. By introducing policy incentives for global MNCs to provide training for women-led MSMEs, they can become suppliers in their value chain.

MS: Recent expansions in rural income schemes, digital empowerment initiatives and gig platforms highlight multiple actors. Where should the government focus its comparative advantage versus private sector innovation to accelerate women’s economic empowerment sustainably?

MN: Central and State Governments have access to vast social protection infrastructure that can be leveraged to support rural women. Our publication, ‘Casting a Social Safety Net,’ explores the gendered impact of social protection schemes of the government, particularly in light of the pandemic. Food, fuel and cash transfers took place under the umbrella of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY).

Women received direct cash transfers under the PM Jan Dhan Yojana, free gas cylinders under the PM Ujjwala Yojana and nearly half the beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme were women. Meanwhile, the private sector can play a major role in designing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies. Implementing gender-sensitive policies that recognise the value of care work can help empower women to realise their potential in the workplace.

Working parents (particularly mothers) can be given access to care services and infrastructure within the vicinity of the workplace. Going beyond the statutory requirements of six months of maternity leave, employers can introduce gender-neutral, job-protected, fully funded care work leaves that facilitate return to the same employer for talent retention. Flex-time, reduced working hours, job-sharing, switches to part-time work and telecommuting options will nurture a more inclusive and accommodative culture. With the public and private sectors working in tandem, we can expect sustainable acceleration of women’s economic status.

About Mitali Nikore

Mitali is the Founder and Chief Economist at Nikore Associates. As a pioneering economist with over 12+ years of experience, she advises multilateral bodies including the World Bank, ADB, GIZ and G20 engagement groups such as Think20, Women20 and Urban20. Mitali’s areas of expertise include green infrastructure, public-private partnerships, industrial value chains, skill development and gender mainstreaming strategies. Her work spans gender-responsive urban mobility, care economy policy, industrial value chains and public-private partnerships. She holds a Master’s in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor’s in Economics from the University of Delhi.

About the Interviewer

Mahima Sharma is an Independent Senior Journalist based in Delhi NCR with a career spanning TV, Print, and Online Journalism since 2005. She has played key roles at several media houses including roles at CNN-News18, ANI, Voice of India, and Hindustan Times.

Founder & Editor of The Think Pot, she is also a recipient of the REX Karmaveer Chakra (Gold & Silver) by iCONGO in association with the United Nations. Since March 2022, she has served as an Entrepreneurship Education Mentor at Women Will, a Google-backed program in collaboration with SHEROES. Mahima can be reached at media@indiastat.com

Disclaimer : The facts & statistics, the work profile details of the protagonist and the opinions appearing in the answers do not reflect the views of Indiastat or the Journalist. Indiastat or the Journalist do not hold any responsibility or liability for the same.