Incentivising Women’s Domestic Care and Associated Issues

Synopsis: Addressing Women’s challenges in an economy is more important than incentivising women’s domestic care work.

Background

• In the 1991 census, women’s groups undertook a campaign to ensure that women’s home-based labour is getting recognised.
• Recently, in the poll-bound Tamilnadu state, various political parties announced remuneration for women’s domestic and care.
• Over the years, Tamil Nadu has nurtured the growth of competitive welfarism. Because many believe that the success of such social security net has resulted in reducing poverty and ensuring inclusive growth.
• However, the recent proposal has been criticized. It is because Political parties resorted to Populist measures to win elections without paying real attention to the existing women issues

What are the issues of Women that need priority in Tamil Nadu?

• First, Women working as domestic workers and housekeeping staff are still not recognised as Workforce. The lack of recognition of domestic workers as a workforce forces them to accept poor remuneration, abuses etc.,
• Second, increasing female indebtedness. The state has allowed and enabled the growth of microfinance in the state, which led to a high level of female indebtedness. Mostly, the loans are taken for a range of social and reproductive purposes such as Children’s education, hospital expenses.
• Third, the vulnerable conditions of Women in employment have not been addressed by the state yet. For example, denial of equal pay for equal work, sexual harassment at the workplace, lack of social security net, etc.,
• Fourth, the state has been promoting liquor sales despite many demands from the Women groups to make liquor sales illegal. Spending on liquor drinking reduces the household’s financial ability to spend on basic goods.

Rather than paying wages for women’s domestic care work, the state should address core Women issues and challenges and empower them to become a contributor in development from being a welfare recipient.

Source: Indian Express

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