Modern Families

Government subsidies aren’t a new concept. The U.S. government and other nations put subsidies in place to help financially bolster their agriculture, energy, and healthcare sectors. But India’s government is experimenting with another subsidy: homemaking.

In 12 states, 118 million people in India are receiving unconditional cash transfers from the government, making it one of the largest social policy experiments regarding both wages for stay-at-home parents and universal basic income as a whole. These payments are given to women simply because they traditionally maintain the households in the country and are responsible for hours of childcare, laundry, maintenance, and several other duties in the culture. A 2024 study found that Indian women did ten times more household duties than the men, and a 2025 study found they spent 7.6 times more time on such duties than their male counterparts.

There are caveats and eligibility requirements, however. Indian residents who are government employees, own a car, or own large plots of land wouldn’t qualify, among other boundaries. Those eligible only get paid up to $30 per month, which isn’t nothing but doesn’t equate to an actual wage. The payments are typically spent on household expenses and medicine. Critics of this experiment are calling it “vote buying” as promising a wage or salary to housewives for their unpaid labor could encourage homemakers to vote for the candidates pushing for it.

Regardless of intention, the movement and idea to pay stay-at-home mothers and homemakers has been a topic of discussion worldwide. Many countries offer generous paid family leave for new parents, but that typically tapers off when the child reaches a certain age. In terms of the United States, by combining the typical hourly rates and salaries of the duties of a chauffeur, daycare worker, cook, and personal assistant, a stay-at-home parent’s salary would be close to the $200,000 per year range according to Salary.com, Investopedia, and SaveMyCents.com.

So should we pay stay-at-home parents and homemakers or just implement a universal basic income for everyone in general? Well, that’s up for debate.

Aside from paying homemakers and other ongoing experiments over the past decade, some writers trace the concept of universal basic income (UBI) back to ancient Greece. In terms of the modern day, there are several recent experiments worldwide that yielded positive results. However, each experiment had different factors to deal with: different amounts of people being paid, different wage amounts, different living areas and economic stability, and other factors that have made UBI ripe for further research.

Critics of UBI are concerned about why the taxing-paying workforce also need to contribute to the taxes needed to fund a universal payment system. They are also concerned with the lack of guardrails or means-based eligibility requirements because, unless there are such things in place, wealthy people would get a paycheck they don't need while everyone pays extra taxes for the program.

So should homemakers be compensated by the government for their unpaid labor? The jury is out. However, for India, the question is worth exploring.