Need of gender-neutral Childcare leave

Source-This post on Need of gender-neutral Childcare leave has been created based on the article “Express View on childcare leave: Bringing up a child” published in “The Hindu” on 24 April 2024.

UPSC Syllabus-GS Paper-2-Social Justice and GS Paper-1- Salient features of Indian Society.

Context-The Supreme Court has recently held that denial of childcare leave to women is violation of Constitution. This was in context of a case of a state government women employee who was denied childcare leave to look after her ailing son who was suffering from rare genetic disorder.

The court observed that participation of women in the workforce is a constitutional entitlement protected by Article 15. It is incumbent upon the state to pay attention to the special concerns of working women.

What is the present status regarding Women Participation in the Labour Force?

As per the PLFS report 2022-23, the female labor force participation rate jumped to 37% in 2022-23, which is 4.2% higher compared to the previous year. However, women are still facing several challenges.

What are the impediments in the path of women to join workforce?

1) Care responsibilities– There is a disproportionate burden of care work on women at home and even outside of it, irrespective of their employment status. This includes childcare, housekeeping, and elderly care.
Women are also not recognized for their care work. As per some estimates, women in India perform over 8 times the amount of unpaid work, valued at 15 % to 17 % of GDP notionally. All these factors restrict their participation in labour force.

2) Embracing Motherhood– Motherhood is challenging. This requires a woman to either leave their jobs during their career or experience a slowdown in their professional advancement.

Read more- Female Labour Force Participation Rate

What should be the way forward?

1) Investing in Infrastructure for Child and Elder Care in India -By 2050, the proportion of senior citizens in India is projected to reach 20.8% of the population. It’s important to invest in infrastructure that provides easy access to affordable and specialized child and elder care so that disproportionate burden on women to discharge care functions can be minimized.

2) Gender-neutral approach– There is a need to foster a gender-neutral approach to care work to demolish stereotypes about gender-based work allocation by considering the changing nature of families.
Extending Childcare Leave (CCL) to all employees, regardless of gender, would be a positive step forward.

Question for practice

Why are women under-represented in workforce in India? What steps can be taken to address this issue?