Cleaning, tidying, cooking, looking after children and managing family finances are part of the daily lives of many women across India. There are approximately 160 million female homemakers throughout the country, who spend about 297 minutes each day completing domestic work, compared with a significantly lower 31 minutes spent by men. This inequality in time spent on what many scholars argue is “unpaid work” has led the Indian government to introduce a welfare scheme involving cash transfers to women.

Across India, unconditional cash transfers to women are becoming increasingly common, with transfers ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 rupees ($12 to $30) a month. These payments account for roughly 5% to 12% of household income. The money typically goes toward household and family needs such as children’s education, groceries and cooking gas.

Impacts on Women and Households

Research indicates that these small, regular transfers are having a positive effect on the lives of women, with the majority of the money being spent on their own immediate needs and those of their households. Additionally, the transfers have given women a sense of financial security and a newfound confidence, allowed them to become more financially independent from their husbands and reduced marital conflict.

Prabha Kotiwswaran, a professor of law and social justice at King’s College London, told the BBC in December that: “The unconditional cash transfers signal a significant expansion of Indian states’ welfare regimes in favor of women.”

The idea of cash transfers for women was first introduced in 2013 in the state of Goa but only gained momentum before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the northern state of Assam implemented a scheme for vulnerable women. As of 2025, nearly 15 states run such programs.

Politics and Public Debate

Since then, cash transfers have gained political power, with both government and opposition parties introducing them as a strategy to mobilize female voters. The result of this can be seen in the 2025 Delhi assembly election, where the female voter turnout reached 60.92%, exceeding the male turnout for the first time in the country’s history. Critics have called this “blatant vote-buying,” highlighting how financial support can easily be used as political leverage.

Women can become eligible for this financial support simply due to the fact that they do not have a paying job but instead stay at home, keep households running and bear the burden of unpaid care work. Although the amount received can vary due to several factors — such as age thresholds, income caps and exclusions for families with government employees or owners of large plots of land — the government has not put in place conditions similar to those enforced by other countries with large cash transfer schemes. For example, Bolsa Familia, the world’s largest cash transfer scheme in Brazil, requires school attendance for teenagers, immunization of children and prenatal monitoring for pregnant women, among others.

Limits of Cash Transfers

Although these cash transfers to women in India have allowed steps forward, cash transfers cannot substitute for employment opportunities, with many women stating they would still prefer work that pays and respect that endures. It is important that the fight for women’s rights and equal rights is neither forgotten nor lost, and that unconditional cash transfers are a means of raising awareness of the equality that is yet to be achieved.

As cash transfer programs continue across India, they are providing women with greater financial stability and decision-making power within their households. Together with broader social and economic efforts, these initiatives highlight continued progress toward improving the lives of women and families.

– Jenna O’Flynn

Jenna is based in London, UK and focuses on Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr