Introduction

Abstract

In India, the feminist economist has been strong since the 1970s, and over the years, research on women's paid and unpaid work has covered the question of women's care work, domestic work, gendered occupational segregation and conditions of work, especially focusing on women in informal employment. Further, the Indian labour market is marked with massive informality where women are mostly engaged in low-paying jobs with a lack of access to social protection and labour legislation. An important opportunity provided by the sustainable development agenda 2030 is that the understanding around women's livelihoods and work has moved beyond the limited articulation and aspiration for ‘non-farm employment', towards a more holistic and grounded understanding of sustainable development with its social, economic and environmental dimensions. The sustainable development goal, on gender equality and women's empowerment, further articulates Target 5.4 for recognising, reducing and redistributing women's unpaid work. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.