Care Economy and Time Use 101

75-90 Minutes

Workshop 2: Infrastructure, technology & care policy design

Target Audience: Policy makers, urban planners, technology specialists, and practitioners designing care-sensitive policies

Prerequisites: Workshop 1 or familiarity with time-use data and care economy concepts

Materials Needed: Calculators, policy case studies, cost-benefit analysis templates, local infrastructure data

Learning objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Design care infrastructure interventions based on time-use data analysis
Conduct cost-benefit analysis of care economy investments
Evaluate technology solutions for reducing time poverty and care burdens
Create care-sensitive budget analysis and policy recommendations
Apply international best practices to local care economy challenges

Problem set 1: Care infrastructure analysis

Intermediate

Urban planning case study: New residential development

Context: You're advising on a 5,000-unit affordable housing project in Gurugram. The developer wants to minimize costs, but the local government wants to ensure the development reduces women's time poverty.

Baseline Data:

Target population: 25,000 residents (60% families with children)
Current conditions: Women walk 45 minutes daily for water, 30 minutes to nearest school
Care burden: Average woman spends 5.2 hours daily on unpaid care work
Employment: Only 23% of women in paid employment

Problem 1.1: Infrastructure priority analysis

Given limited budget, rank these infrastructure investments by time-saving potential:

Piped water supply

Cost: ₹8 crores

Time saving: 45 min/day/woman

Benefits: 12,500 women

Additional: Reduces waterborne diseases

Community childcare center

Cost: ₹5 crores (setup + 5 years operating)

Time saving: 3 hours/day/mother

Benefits: 600 mothers with young children

Additional: Enables women's employment

Integrated market complex

Cost: ₹3 crores

Time saving: 60 min/day/household

Benefits: 5,000 households

Additional: Local employment creation

Cost-effectiveness analysis

Calculate cost per hour of time saved annually:

Infrastructure	Total Time Saved/Year	Cost per Hour Saved	Your Ranking
Piped Water	12,500 women × 45 min × 365 days = _____ hours	₹8 crores ÷ _____ hours = ₹_____/hour	_____
Childcare Center	600 mothers × 180 min × _____ days = _____ hours	₹5 crores ÷ _____ hours = ₹_____/hour	_____
Market Complex	5,000 households × _____ min × 365 days = _____ hours	₹3 crores ÷ _____ hours = ₹_____/hour	_____

Problem 1.2: Multiplier effects analysis

Beyond direct time savings, consider economic multiplier effects:

Economic impact calculations

Childcare Center Economic Analysis:

Direct time saving: 600 mothers × 3 hours/day × 250 working days = _____ hours/year
Employment enabling: If 40% of mothers enter workforce at ₹15,000/month:
New employment = 600 × 0.4 = _____ women
Annual income generated = _____ × ₹15,000 × 12 = ₹_____ crores
Tax revenue: Assuming 10% effective tax rate:
Additional tax revenue = ₹_____ crores × 0.1 = ₹_____ crores/year
Cost recovery period: ₹5 crores ÷ ₹_____ crores tax/year = _____ years

Policy Insight: The childcare center pays for itself through increased tax revenue in _____ years, while providing ongoing benefits to women and children.

Problem set 2: Technology and care work

Advanced

Digital solutions for care economy

Context: You're designing a comprehensive digital platform to reduce care work burdens for urban working mothers in Bangalore. The platform needs to be financially sustainable and scalable.

On-demand services

Services: Meal delivery, grocery delivery, house cleaning

Time saving: 2 hours/day

Cost to user: ₹300/day

Market size: 50,000 households

Care coordination

Services: Childcare matching, eldercare services, emergency care

Time saving: 1.5 hours/day + peace of mind

Cost to user: ₹500/month subscription

Market size: 25,000 families

Smart home integration

Services: IoT appliances, automated shopping, energy management

Time saving: 45 minutes/day

Cost to user: ₹10,000 upfront + ₹200/month

Market size: 15,000 tech-savvy households

Platform business model design (20 minutes)

Step 1: Revenue model analysis (8 minutes)

Calculate potential annual revenue for each service:

Service	Market Penetration	Annual Revenue per User	Total Annual Revenue
On-Demand (assume 20% penetration)	50,000 × 0.2 = _____ users	₹300 × 365 = ₹_____	₹_____ crores
Care Coordination (assume 30% penetration)	25,000 × 0.3 = _____ users	₹500 × 12 = ₹_____	₹_____ crores
Smart Home (assume 10% penetration)	15,000 × 0.1 = _____ users	₹2,400 × 1 = ₹_____	₹_____ crores

Step 2: Social impact measurement (7 minutes)

Calculate time savings and economic value:

Total time saved annually:
On-demand: _____ users × 2 hours × 250 days = _____ hours
Care coordination: _____ users × 1.5 hours × _____ days = _____ hours
Smart home: _____ users × 0.75 hours × _____ days = _____ hours
Total: _____ hours saved annually
Economic value of time saved: (Use ₹200/hour opportunity cost)
Total value = _____ hours × ₹200 = ₹_____ crores
Return on investment: Economic value ÷ Total user spending = ____%

Step 3: Policy integration (5 minutes)

Design government partnership model:

What subsidies would make services accessible to lower-income families?
How could platform data inform urban planning and care infrastructure?
What regulations are needed to ensure service quality and worker rights?
How could success be measured for policy evaluation?

Problem set 3: Care-sensitive budget analysis

Advanced

State budget review: Kerala's care economy investment

Context: Kerala government wants to allocate ₹500 crores in next budget specifically for care economy interventions. You need to analyze different allocation strategies.

Problem 3.1: Budget allocation optimization

Intervention	Proposed Allocation	Expected Beneficiaries	Time Saved per Beneficiary	Cost per Hour Saved
Anganwadi expansion (childcare)	₹200 crores	2,00,000 mothers	2 hours/day	₹_____/hour
Water infrastructure (rural)	₹150 crores	5,00,000 women	45 minutes/day	₹_____/hour
Elder care centers	₹100 crores	50,000 families	3 hours/day	₹_____/hour
Public transport improvement	₹50 crores	3,00,000 women	30 minutes/day	₹_____/hour

Complete the analysis

Calculate cost per hour saved for each intervention (assume 250 active days/year for 5 years)
Which intervention provides best value for money? _____
Which has highest total impact? _____ (total hours saved)
Recommend your optimal budget allocation:
- Anganwadi: ₹_____ crores
- Water infrastructure: ₹_____ crores
- Elder care: ₹_____ crores
- Transport: ₹_____ crores

Integrated impact analysis

Beyond time savings, consider:

Employment effects: How many women could enter workforce with each intervention?
Health impacts: How do water and childcare investments affect family health?
Intergenerational effects: How does quality childcare affect children's development?
Regional equity: Do allocations address rural-urban disparities?
Sustainability: Which investments create lasting infrastructure vs. ongoing costs?

International best practices

10 minutes

Finland: Universal childcare system

Policy: Universal right to childcare from age 9 months, heavily subsidized by government

Investment: Publicly funded, with income-related fees capped by law

Results: Every child under school age has a legal right to a place once parental leave ends

Indian Context: Exercise: cost a comparable entitlement for India from the number of children under six and a cost per place

South Korea: Care infrastructure investment

Policy: Rapid expansion of childcare centres, made free for all preschool-aged children regardless of parental income from 2013 (OECD, Korea's Unborn Future: Understanding Low-Fertility Trends)

Investment: Large and rising public spending on childcare; see the OECD Family Database for current figures

Results: Childcare use rose, but the fertility rate kept falling, a reminder that childcare alone does not reverse low fertility

Indian Context: Shows that free places are not enough when long working hours and unequal sharing of care stay unchanged

Mexico: Estancias Infantiles program

Policy: Subsidised community childcare for working mothers, especially in the informal sector (2007-2019)

Investment: A federal subsidy covering most of the fee at registered childcare centres

Results: Evaluations found higher employment among beneficiary mothers; the federal government abolished the programme in 2019 and moved to direct cash transfers to families

Indian Context: Relevant to India's large informal workforce, where few women workers have employer-provided childcare

Policy design questions

Which international model is most applicable to India's federal structure and development priorities?
How could India adapt these models to address its specific challenges (rural-urban divide, caste dynamics, informal economy)?
What role should technology play in scaling care infrastructure efficiently?
How can policies ensure care workers (mostly women) receive decent wages and working conditions?
What indicators would you use to measure the success of care economy investments?

Workshop synthesis

Care economy investments are economic development investments. Infrastructure, technology, and services that reduce unpaid care burdens enable women's economic participation, improve family wellbeing, and generate positive returns to government investment. The key is designing integrated approaches that recognize care work as the foundation of all economic activity.

Advanced resources & policy tools

Care Infrastructure Planning:

"Promoting Women's Economic Empowerment: Recognizing and Investing in the Care Economy" - UN Women (2018)
"Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work" - ILO (2018)
"Investing in the Care Economy: A Gender Analysis of Employment Stimulus in Seven OECD Countries" - ITUC, prepared by the Women's Budget Group (2016)
"The Power of Parity: How Advancing Women's Equality Can Add $12 Trillion to Global Growth" - McKinsey Global Institute (2015)

Technology & Innovation:

"World Employment and Social Outlook 2021: The Role of Digital Labour Platforms in Transforming the World of Work" - ILO (2021)

Budget Analysis Tools:

Gender Budget Analysis frameworks: UN Women, OECD
Care-sensitive budgeting: ILO, Women's Budget Group toolkits
Social Return on Investment (SROI): Care economy measurement frameworks
Time Use Survey analysis: OECD, ILO statistical methods

Next Steps in ImpactMojo:

Women's Economic Empowerment 101: Economic agency, control over resources
Social Safety Nets 101: Care-sensitive social protection systems
Urban Planning 101: Gender-responsive infrastructure design
Digital Development Ethics 101: Technology and care work intersections

This handout is part of the ImpactMojo 101 Knowledge Series
Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 • Free to use with attribution • www.impactmojo.in

For care infrastructure calculators, budget analysis templates, and policy design frameworks, visit the ImpactMojo platform.