The Measure of the Working Woman

As per India’s first national Time Use Survey released in 2020, it was found that 81.2% of all women are engaged in unpaid domestic services, compared with 26.1% of men.

• Women’s unpaid work is responsible for 5% of GDP. In other words, not only do women shoulder the burden of domestic work, but they also boost the GDP in the process.

Glaring Findings:

• The survey found that men spend 42 hours on average on activities within the production boundary, i.e. what is traditionally counted as economic activity, whereas women spend 19 hours.
• However, women spend 10 times more time on household maintenance and care for children, the sick and the elderly — 6 hours versus 3.6 hours.
• Women’s unpaid work plays a vital role in the economy: it is responsible for 7.5% of GDP, according to an SBI report. In other words, not only do women shoulder the burden of domestic work, but they also boost the GDP in the process. Yet in the official logs, they are not working.
• A study revealed that approximately 44% of women were part of the labour force when considering a period of four months, but only 2% of women were counted when considering an extended period of four years.
• A report entitled ‘Women’s Economic Contribution through their Unpaid Work: A Case Study of India’ (2009) had estimated the economic value of services by women to be to the tune of a whopping $612.8 billion annually.

Implications:

• There are two implications for this: working women face the dreaded “double burden”, where working outside the home and contributing to family income does not come with a commensurate reduction in household responsibilities, and the care work that they do spend time on is not counted in the larger economic estimates, leaving us with exhausted women with lower leisure hours in a week than their male counterparts.
• In low-income families, single-income households are often impossibility — both parents work simply because they have to. This means that the model of the breadwinner-caregiver begins to break down. Low-income women are working without support far more often than expected. 
• Women’s work patterns are seasonal, sporadic and irregular and they often contribute to family businesses from within the home.
• In a broader perspective we can find that Domestic obligations keep them from regular employment. Further there are some social and moral curtains which cover the aspects of working women. A traditional family often discourages women from working. Further there are travelling and security concerns attached with working women.
• It is a truth universally acknowledged that a parent working outside the home must have someone to take care of their child.
• In India, family structures have historically often filled this need, with fathers working outside the home, and mothers providing child care and elder care. However, this model is not conducive to India’s growing ambitions. If the country is to grow into a 5 trillion dollars economy, women must be included.
• From the socio-economic perspective we can also say that unpaid work often stems from the mentality of families which treat household works as something moral responsibility of women only. The larger implications are that it results in unpaid social work and limiting the financial independence.

What shall be the way ahead?

• Household works or domestic duties shall be given some kind of economic values and financial gains. Further they shall be recognised as larger part of unpaid social work for which government can bring a scheme to compensate them accordingly.
• Giving social and economic recognition will help to develop the financial independence and it will link them with formal economy and thus contribution being more valued. There are two specific ways to get here: women’s work, often care work, must be appropriately valued, and women must be adequately supported to participate in economic activity outside the home.
• Governments need to redefine how they assess women's labour. India can champion revising the international System of National Accounts, impacting GDP calculations and Census inquiries. Ignoring women's work hides it, influencing labor and employment policies.
• India, experiencing rapid urbanization, needs new support models for women. Creches are a solution, with around 6,500 operating under the National Creche Scheme as of 2020. They empower mothers to pursue stable careers and provide children a safe environment.
• Currently the women’s labour force participation rate (FLFPR) in India is 32.8% according to government sources and 24% according to the World Bank, compared to China’s 61%, Bangladesh’s 38%, Nepal’s 29% and Pakistan’s 25%. If India wants to raise its FLPR to empower its women, myths around women’s work must be dispelled, and women’s work must both be counted appropriately and supported fairly.

However some critics have pointed out that does India need to adhere to the standards of western economic models which attributes every work and its importance through the lens of Economic or monetary values? India which has a traditional family structure and women are considered as epitome of motherly figure and care giver, shall we follow the western model to assume that they are less valued?

All women work, but not all of them get paid.

The answer for such critics lies in the fact that, it is true that Indian value and morals system consider women into such higher pedestal but at the same time it’s also been pointed out that at times women find it difficult to manage work along with household duties. Thus such societal duty shall be voluntary in nature. However there are numerous instances where it is forced. Further this unpaid social work shall be given proper recognition. Also the higher thoughts related with this concept also suffers from regional and class barriers. This suffers from urban elite bias distant from rural and ground realities. Thus the suggestions mentioned above are a sure way forward in this direction.