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'Unprecedented move': Politicians vow to pay India's women for housework

Ruling coalition, Opposition in Tamil Nadu and Kerala promise monthly income support to homemakers; Mamata Banerjee says she will give monthly income support to female heads of 16 million households.

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Indian women’s predicament has exacerbated by Covid-19 (Representative photo).

Bibhudatta Pradhan | Bloomberg
As India battles the world’s worst virus outbreak, some key political parties are promising an unprecedented monthly payment to all homemakers in a bid to win crucial state elections.

If enacted the stipends would be some of the first in the world to specifically address women’s unpaid labor, which economists estimate accounts for up to 39% of global GDP and is often absent from official statistics. They would also represent a major cultural shakeup in a nation where women are overwhelmed with domestic duties and their participation in the workforce is among the lowest on the planet--a predicament exacerbated by Covid-19.

India’s