Homemakers are nation builders: Why Supreme Court valued domestic care at Rs 30,000
In a landmark judgment that goes far beyond compensation law, the Supreme Court recently described homemakers as "nation builders" and sought to place a tangible
In a landmark judgment that goes far beyond compensation law, the Supreme Court recently described homemakers as "nation builders" and sought to place a tangible economic value on work that has traditionally remained invisible and unpaid. The court's observations came while deciding a motor accident compensation case involving the death of a homemaker. Faced with the challenge of determining compensation for a family that had lost a woman who did not earn a formal salary, the bench was compelled to answer a larger question: How should the law value the contribution of a homemaker? Read Full Story The answer, the court suggested, lies in recognising that a homemaker is not merely a dependent member of the household but an economic entity whose labour sustains families and, by extension, the nation itself. HOMEMAKER: A NATION BUILDER AND AN ECONOMIC ENTITY The Supreme Court rejected the long-standing perception that homemakers are dependent on earning members of a family. Instead, it observed that households function because of the often-unseen labour performed by homemakers every day. "It is ironic to describe a homemaker as dependent on earning members, when in reality the household's functioning depends substantially on the homemaker," the court noted. The judgment highlighted how homemakers undertake a wide range of responsibilities—from cooking, cleaning and household management to caring for children and the elderly. These activities support the paid workforce and enable economic productivity, yet they remain excluded from conventional economic measures such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The court went a step further, describing homemakers as the invisible force behind society's success stories. It observed that they help create human capital, shape future generations, preserve social values and provide the emotional and psychological support that allows others to focus on careers and livelihoods.
"To put it directly and yet indirectly, a homemaker is like the potter and a home itself is a lump of clay. All shapes, sizes and designs are a result of the exact right mix of the mud with the water and the gentle caress of the hand to shape the clay into something that is wholesome, attractive and useful," the court observed. The court further said that these homemakers are "the people responsible for laying the foundation stones on which the edifices of the high flying business persons, successful politicians, headlining artists, sought after lawyers etc., on the one hand and on the other, the silent support behind the daily grind of an everyday worker who steps out of home in the hopes of making a decent living for the day in other words, they have a role either entirely invisible or just partially visible in the work of all those persons who are recognised to be contributing to the nation." "It is high time now that the invisible is made visible or the veil is pierced to make what can be partially seen come out in the open. The “homemakers”, to put it directly, actually are the “nation builders” and they ought to be recognised as such," the court added. Ultimately, the bench concluded that homemakers are "nation builders" whose contributions have remained largely unrecognised. QUANTIFYING THE CONTRIBUTION OF A NATION BUILDER The central challenge before the court was how to translate these contributions into compensation when a homemaker dies in an accident. The judgment drew upon economic studies showing that women perform a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic labour. Referring to India's Time Use Survey, the court noted that women spend more than seven hours a day on unpaid domestic work, compared with less than three hours for men.
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