Cash transfers for women: Do they challenge gender norms on unpaid care work? | In Focus Podcast

Unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) for women have become extremely popular. So far, more than 14 states have done it, benefiting 120 million women. The monthly payouts range from Rs833 to Rs2,500. State governments spend more than Rs2 lakh crore annually on such schemes.But at the same time, at least six such states projected a revenue deficit for 2025-26, pointing to the growing fiscal pressure due to the rapid expansion of women-centric cash transfers.There is a raging debate on whether unconditional cash transfers are crowding out state expenditure on social infrastructure such as public health and education.A new book by Prabha Kotiswaran, titled ‘Wages for Housework: ’s experiment with Unconditional cash transfers for women’ defends such payouts from a feminist perspective, and argues that they are a form of economic, social and political recognition of women’s unpaid domestic and care work.Prabha Kotiswaran is Professor of Law and Social Justice at King’s College, and she joins us today for a discussion on women-centric UCTs.Host: G Sampath, Social Affairs EditorProducer: Shiksha JuralFor more episodes of In Focus: Published - August 26, 2026 06:29 pm IST