Rent-a-grandchild: Businesses offering companions to elderly grow in India

Companies in India are increasingly offering paid companions to older people, helping with temple visits, hospital appointments, card games or simply conversation. Twenty-six-year-old Roney Raju, a social work graduate, has spent several months accompanying S Budhiraja, an octogenarian whose two daughters live in the United States, and his wife in Gurugram. The couple and Raju describe their bond as familial, with Budhiraja saying he feels deeply understood. People over 60 accounted for 10.5 percent of India’s population in 2022 and are projected to make up 21 percent by 2050—about 347 million people, according to a UNFPA and International Institute for Population Sciences report.