Homemakers are ‘nation builders’, their work worth at least ₹30,000 a month: Supreme Court

Observing that domestic workers deserve to be recognized as “nation builders”, the Supreme Court on Thursday (June 11, 2026) ruled that unpaid domestic work done by housewives should be monetized to the tune of at least ₹30,000 per month while calculating compensation for road accident deaths.

The decision came on an appeal arising from an allegation of a road accident in Punjab, in which a woman named Reshma died in a road accident in November 2001. Her husband and three children appealed to the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal seeking compensation. While the court decided on compensation in 2003, it applied to the Supreme Court to increase the amount. On appeal, the Supreme Court increased the compensation to ₹8.43 lakh with 7.5% interest and provided a higher rate of interest in case of delay in payment.

Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice NK Singh observed that the contribution of the homemaker extends beyond the household and plays a vital role in nation building. The court said, “We are of the opinion that housewives contribute to the development of man and the nation.”

Judge Karol stated that “loss of domestic care” would be an additional justification in addition to the damages previously granted by the Supreme Court.

The court also noted that car accident compensation claims should normally be decided within one year. “Such cases generally have to be decided within a year,” the Bench said.

The court also noted the need to change from the stereotypical terminology of everyday use to ‘housewife’ instead of ‘housewife’.

Since the court recognized all aspects of being a housewife and the unpaid labor undertaken by a housewife, it directed the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) to award a separate compensation of ₹30,000 per month under the head ‘home care’ in cases relating to the death of a housewife.

He announced that this amount would be considered the minimum value of a housewife’s unpaid labor and would increase by 10% every three years. If the housewife also had a paid job, this amount would be given in addition to her income.

However, the Court resorted to the application of the image of the housewife to the traditional image of women. In this connection the Court said: “As a result of one or another situation, sometimes an unfortunate, sometimes not, man may also have to assume the role of housewife. This is not to take away from the efforts of these men, who also deserve recognition and appreciation, but for the purposes of the present case, and especially for the purpose of quantifying domestic efforts, we restrict its application to the quintessential and traditional image of the woman.”

The court also referred to the Time Use Survey conducted in 2019, which highlighted the extent of unpaid household and care work undertaken by women in particular, noting that women aged 15-59 spent more than seven hours a day on unpaid housework, while men spent less than three hours. On average, women do 2.6 times more unpaid care/housework, even if they contribute economically.

The court noted that this one-sided scenario is probably one of the reasons why women’s labor force participation in the country is low by 31.7%, as the social framework often assumes that such responsibilities automatically fall on women. Women’s unpaid care work is estimated to contribute 15-17% of India’s GDP, but it remains unpaid and unrecognized.