Kathmandu: Stakeholders have called for the formal recognition and systematic inclusion of household and care work in the national economic framework, highlighting its immense yet invisible contribution to the country’s development on November 13.
Speaking at an interaction program titled “Household Work and the Care Economy” organized by the Nepal Human Rights Film Center in Kathmandu, participants emphasized the need to calculate the share of unpaid domestic labor in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Former Chairperson of the Human Rights Film Center Bishnu Khatri shared that, in Nepal, women remain far more involved in household work than men. “Studies show that, on average, women spend 29 hours per week on domestic chores, while men spend only about 5 hours,” he said. “This highlights the crucial role of women, but also the need for further detailed research. Men, too, should increase their participation in household work.”
Khatri also noted that the share of care work is expanding globally and that Nepal will face similar trends in the coming decades. “In 15 to 20 years, the population of elderly citizens will increase significantly. A large workforce will be needed to provide care services,” he explained. “Therefore, discussions and debates around the care economy must grow stronger.”
The care economy, he added, encompasses a wide range of activities such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, elder care, caring for the sick, hospitality, tending to livestock, farming, festivals, religious activities, and community service—all of which deserve recognition for their social and economic value.
Economist Dr. Bikal Shrestha noted that Nepal has yet to account for the value of domestic and care work in its national economy. “Until an issue is linked with the economy, it struggles to gain importance,” he said. “At present, the contribution of household labor to the national economy is practically zero—because it has neither been studied nor integrated into the economic system.” Dr. Shrestha suggested that the value of such work could be estimated through the concept of opportunity cost and compared with the GDP, much like how remittance contributions are assessed.
Social activist Ritu Bhatt argued that the importance of domestic work goes beyond statistics. “We cannot view household work solely through an economic lens,” she said. “In our Eastern philosophy, emotional and spiritual values play a key role. The emotional contribution of care and domestic work is profound—it shapes our daily lives. We must first recognize its importance ourselves before we can make others understand it.”
The event was jointly organized by the Nepal Human Rights Film Center and Unnati Nepal, in collaboration with the Canadian High Commission under the CFLI Project. Other speakers included Sunita Bhattarai from the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Manju Gurung from Pourakhi Nepal, and Ashok Rana from the National Network for Safe Migration, who also shared their insights on the issue.
