Why India has less women in workforce

Women earning in cash or kind to sustain their life is a phenomenon as old as the history of mankind. It is not one that developed after growth of paid employment. As humans grew more and more social the participation of women at work started to decrease, because society kept on increasing the responsibilities of men while providing safety & security for women. Such unequal participation of women in labour actually came into focus after growth of “work for money” type of employment.

In India, though it has been highlighted that the participation of women in the workforce is lower, the correct cause has never been addressed. The cause lies in the outlook of society and how it allows a person to make a living. In current times the only source of livelihood for an Indian Man is to get employment.

An Indian woman on the other hand has many more choices to sustain herself as mentioned below.

An Indian woman once married becomes lifetime responsibility of her husband irrespective of the fact whether she fulfills her responsibilities as a wife or not. The Indian laws are so draconian that even if a woman has been committing adultery and /or purposely living away from her husband and shirking responsibilities the husband has to give her monetary support and provide shelter for her. In fact India even has schemes that support female widows. So if a married woman loses her husband, she can expect financial or other support from government. Whereas no such support is available for widowers.

Even before marriage when a boy is just dating a girl in India it’s the boy who always has to pay the bills. If the boy is dating a working girl living away from her paternal home, he may end up paying/ sharing the cost of her accommodation and other expenses even without getting into serious relation. This phenomenon has been well captured in the Indian movie “Pyaar Ka Panchnama”.

Apart from this the Government keeps on coming up with biased schemes that support only women. The government conveniently ignores the fact that the money spent by government is coming from taxpayers and major contribution in tax revenue is of men.

The social construct of the country adds to this as women who sponge off men are never discouraged. Such scenarios encourage women in India to seek easy money instead of earning money for themselves or their families.

Though there are Indian women who earn for themselves and support their families, but their percentage is negligible and they are more of an exception.