Earning from home, for housewives
गृहिणियों के लिए घर से कमाई · गृहिणींसाठी घरबसल्या कमाई
Work you can do inside the house or within your own village or ward, in the hours the household leaves you. Ordered from no money to a little money. Where we do not have the full facts, each page tells you what to ask and whom to ask.
Before you choose
- Count your free hours honestly. Two fixed hours every day is enough for tuition or a small food business. Sales work needs time through the whole day.
- Start with what you already do well. Cooking, sewing, teaching and talking to people are skills. A machine you have never used is a risk.
- Never pay to get work. A joining fee, a kit charge or a deposit is the mark of a fraud.
- Keep the money in your own name. Your own bank account and UPI, and a notebook of what came in and went out.
From inside the house, with little or no money
Near home, only for women
Work under government and LIC schemes in your own village or ward. None of these is a government job, and the amounts are small. Read what each really pays.
- Anganwadi Worker and Helper10th pass · money to start: noneGovernment scheme work
- ASHA Worker (Accredited Social Health Activist)10th pass · money to start: noneGovernment scheme work
- Bank Sakhi and BC Sakhi (banking agent from a self-help group)10th pass · money to start: ₹5,000 to ₹25,000Government scheme work
- LIC Bima Sakhi (women insurance agents with a stipend)10th pass · money to start: noneCommission work
An ordinary life insurance agency is also open to anyone who is Class 10 pass and can be done part-time.
Small businesses that run from the house
19 businesses one person can run from a kitchen or a room, smallest first. The figure is the total money needed to start, worked out on each page with the list of what to buy.
- Mehendi Artistमेहंदी आर्टिस्ट व्यवसाय · मेहंदी आर्टिस्ट व्यवसाय₹20,000
- Homemade Chocolatesहोममेड चॉकलेट व्यवसाय · होममेड चॉकलेट व्यवसाय₹40,000
- Handmade Jewelleryहैंडमेड ज्वेलरी व्यवसाय · हँडमेड ज्वेलरी व्यवसाय₹50,000
- Saree Fall and Pico Workसाड़ी फॉल और पीको व्यवसाय · साडी फॉल आणि पिको व्यवसाय₹50,000
- Online Tuitionऑनलाइन ट्यूशन व्यवसाय · ऑनलाइन शिकवणी व्यवसाय₹70,000
- Cotton Wick (Batti) Makingरुई की बत्ती बनाने का व्यवसाय · कापसाच्या वाती बनवण्याचा व्यवसाय₹80,000
- Home Bakeryहोम बेकरी व्यवसाय · होम बेकरी व्यवसाय₹1.9 lakh
- Tailoring and Alteration Shopसिलाई दुकान व्यवसाय · शिवणकाम दुकान व्यवसाय₹2.3 lakh
- Tiffin Serviceटिफिन सर्विस व्यवसाय · डबा सेवा व्यवसाय₹2.4 lakh
- Candle Makingमोमबत्ती बनाने का व्यवसाय · मेणबत्ती उद्योग₹3 lakh
- Coaching Classesकोचिंग क्लासेस व्यवसाय · कोचिंग क्लासेस व्यवसाय₹3.4 lakh
- Dhoop and Sambrani Cup Makingधूप और सांब्रानी कप बनाने का व्यवसाय · धूप आणि सांब्राणी कप उद्योग₹4.3 lakh
- Beauty Parlourब्यूटी पार्लर व्यवसाय · ब्युटी पार्लर व्यवसाय₹4.4 lakh
- Daycare and Crecheडे-केयर और क्रेच व्यवसाय · डे-केअर आणि पाळणाघर व्यवसाय₹4.9 lakh
- Agarbatti (Incense Stick) Makingअगरबत्ती बनाने का व्यवसाय · अगरबत्ती उद्योग₹5.5 lakh
- Papad Makingपापड़ बनाने का व्यवसाय · पापड उद्योग₹6.1 lakh
- Pickle (Achar) Makingअचार बनाने का व्यवसाय · लोणचे उद्योग₹6.2 lakh
- Chikki Makingचिक्की बनाने का व्यवसाय · चिक्की उद्योग₹6.8 lakh
- Khakhra Makingखाखरा बनाने का व्यवसाय · खाकरा उद्योग₹9.5 lakh
Prices on these pages are typical market prices and have not yet been confirmed with suppliers. Get two or three quotations before buying anything.
Help that women can ask for
PMEGP loan with subsidy. Women count as a special category. The subsidy is 25% of the project cost in towns and 35% in villages, against 15% and 25% for general applicants, and your own contribution is 5% in place of 10%. PMEGP was approved up to FY 2025-26. Check on the KVIC PMEGP portal that applications are open before you plan around the subsidy. How PMEGP works
Mudra loan. For small amounts without a subsidy, and without collateral. How Mudra works
Self-help groups. Under the rural livelihoods mission (Umed in Maharashtra), a women's group can receive a revolving fund, a community investment fund and bank loans without collateral, with interest support. These are given to the group, not to one person. News reports of an interest-free loan of ₹5 lakh for each woman under “Lakhpati Didi” are not confirmed by the official material we read.
| Ask | Where to ask |
|---|---|
| Is PMEGP open this year, and which bank branch handles it here? | District Industries Centre, or the KVIC online portal |
| Is there a self-help group I can join, and what loans has it received? | Block office of the State Rural Livelihoods Mission, or the community resource person in your village |
| Does my state have its own scheme for women entrepreneurs? | District Industries Centre and the Women and Child Development office |
| Do I need a food licence for what I make at home? | The FSSAI registration portal (FoSCoS), or the local food safety officer |
Thinking of a government job?
There is no post reserved for housewives, but many are open to women who studied some years ago. Recruitment notices often give extra years on the upper age limit to widows, divorced women and reserved categories, and some states reserve a share of posts for women. The rule is different in every notice, so read the age section of the one you are applying to.
Read these before paying anyone
The offers that reach women at home most often are not ways to earn.
Can You Earn a Living from Day Trading or F&O?
क्या डे ट्रेडिंग से कमाई हो सकती है?
Buying and selling shares or options within the day, hoping to live off the difference. The market regulator's own studies show that about nine in ten individuals lose money doing it.
Network Marketing (MLM, Direct Selling): Can You Really Earn?
नेटवर्क मार्केटिंग (एमएलएम): क्या सच में कमाई होती है? · नेटवर्क मार्केटिंग: खरंच कमाई होते का?
Buying a company's products and recruiting others to do the same, with income promised from your 'team'. The published income data of such companies shows most participants earn little or nothing.
Work-from-Home Typing, Data Entry and 'Task' Jobs: Real or Fraud?
घर बैठे टाइपिंग और टास्क जॉब: असली या धोखा? · घरबसल्या टायपिंग जॉब: खरे की फसवणूक?
Offers of easy money for typing, form filling, liking videos or rating hotels from home. Almost all of those that reach you by message or advertisement are frauds that end with you paying them.
Questions people ask
What can a housewife do to earn from home with no investment?
Home tuition and selling insurance as a POSP need no money, only time and, for tuition, your own schooling. Reselling on WhatsApp needs no stock. Each has limits, which are set out on its page. Anything that asks you to pay a fee to get work is almost certainly a fraud.
Which small business is best for a housewife?
The one that uses a skill you already have and sells to people near you: food items such as papad, pickle or tiffin if you cook well, tailoring or fall and pico work if you sew, a home parlour or mehendi if you have trained. Start small from your own kitchen or room, and look at the cost and monthly figures on each page before buying any machine.
Are ASHA and Anganwadi work government jobs?
No. Both are honorary work under government schemes, paid an incentive or honorarium and not a salary. They are close to home and open only to women, but the amounts are small and depend on your state.
Do women get extra help on business loans?
Under PMEGP women are in the special category, with a higher subsidy and a lower own contribution than general applicants. Self-help groups under the rural livelihoods mission can get funds and bank loans as a group. Confirm the current terms with your bank and the block office before you plan around them.
Are online typing jobs for housewives genuine?
Offers that arrive by message or advertisement and ask for a registration fee or deposit are frauds. Read the warning page linked here before replying to any of them.