Problems of Working Women in India

PROBLEMS OF WORKING

WOMEN IN INDIA

PRESENTED BY:SHOBHANA SAGAR

NITIN PAL SINGH

INTRODUCTION “ A gender bias creates an obstacle at

the recruitment stage itself. “  Women find employment easily as

nurses, doctors, teachers the caring and nurturing sectors, secretaries or in assembling jobs-the routine submissive sectors. But even if well qualified women engineers or managers or geologists are available, preference will be given to a male of equal qualification.

Inbuilt conviction that women are capable of less work than men or less efficient than men

In most families even now her salary is handed over to father, husband or in-laws

In India men do not share on most of the household chores

Women have started sleeping lesser than before, they lost 2 hours of sleep per day and up to 14 hours sleep per week

They have to handle harassment's at their work place

Many Indian families are still living as joint families along with the parents and in-laws

This adds to their stress further because they have to please all the family members of her husband

Some of us have given up that hope and learnt to accept that nothing can be done about it.

India has a long way to go before our women will be able to live their lives to the full.

STATISTICS RELATED TO WOMEN IN INDIA Sex Ratio - 940 females per 1,000

males Women are 48.5% of the general

population of India. In Daman & Diu, women are 38.2% of the population

There is a gender gap at birth. For every 100 girls born, there are 112 boys born; this gap is even wider in some region. Of all ages, the gender gap is 100 females for every 107 males

Of those ages 15 and up, just 47.8% of females were literate compared to 73.4% of males, and out of the total population in India, 61% is literate.

WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE

WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE

In 2011-2012, women were 26.1% of all rural workers, and 13.8% of all urban workers

Women are an estimated 31.2% of all economically active individuals

Women earn 62% of men’s salary for equal work

LABOR FORCE TRENDS AND LEGISLATION

In an effort to recruit more women employees, some companies are offering 25% bonuses for female employee referrals

Women received 12 weeks paid maternity leave

MANAGEMENT Women are just 3% of legislative,

management, and senior official positions

Women in management in India face many challenges. Studies have found:women have to work harder to prove

themselves;men do not respect women bosses (and

prefer to have them as subordinates as opposed to superiors);

women are excluded from informal networks.

WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT

In June 2010, India was 106 out of 186 countries of women in Parliaments

In the Panchayati Raj system, a new bill has been proposed that gives at least 50% of seats to women, rising from a previous quota of 33%

Five states already offer 50% reservations to women: Bihar Uttarakhand Himachal Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Chaattisgarh

20% OF URBAN WOMEN WORKING'

the 2011 census figures show that hardly 20 per cent of women in the urban areas of the state are working

 In 2001, the percentage of the number of women versus the number of working women was 31.98. In 2011, this has declined to 31.87, which is 0.1 per cent less

IMBALANCE The national average is 940 females per

1,000 males, but that drops to 912 for cities with a population larger than 1m. The imbalance is greater still in India’s biggest cities, with Delhi at 867 females per 1,000 males and Mumbai at 861.

WOMEN EMPLOYMENT IN INDIA

These cultural rules place some Indian women, particularly those of lower caste, in a paradoxical situation: when a family suffers economically, people often think that a woman should go out and work, yet at the same time the woman's participation in employment outside the home is viewed as "slightly inappropriate, subtly wrong, and definitely dangerous to their chastity and womanly virtue".

When a family recovers from an economic crisis or attempts to improve its status, women may be kept at home as a demonstration of the family's morality and as a symbol of its financial security

Even professional women find discrimination to be prevalent: two-thirds of the women in one study felt that they had to work harder to receive the same benefits as comparably employed men

A section of Indian women--the elite and the upper middle class-- have gained by the exposure to the global network

More women are engaged in business enterprises, in international platforms like the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and have greater career opportunities as a result of international network

Economic independence of women is important as it enhances their ability to take decisions and exercise freedom of choice, action

Many of the working women, who control their own income, do contribute towards the economic needs of family as and when required.

After globalization women are able to get more jobs but the work they get is more casual in nature or is the one that men do not prefer to do or is left by them to move to higher or better jobs.

Although most women in India work and contribute to the economy in one form or another, much of their work is not documented or accounted for in official statistics. Women plough fields and harvest crops while working on farms, women weave and make handicrafts while working in household industries, women sell food and gather wood while working in the informal sector.

The status of Indian women has undergone considerable change. Though Indian women are far more independent and aware of their legal rights, such as right to work, equal treatment, property and maintenance, a majority of women remain unaware of these rights

PROBLEMS OF WORKING WOMEN IN INDIA – IN CITIES

Working women in general are subject to discrimination at various levels. the problems and difficulties of working women are multi-dimensional, varying from woman to woman at personal level, and section to section at general level and hence need to be analyzed in depth.

MENTAL HARRASMENT The attitude which considers women

unfit for certain jobs holds back women. the same attitude governs injustice of

unequal salaries for the same job. The true equality has not been achieved even after 61 years of independence.

No one thinks of upgrading their skills with technological advancement which makes it easy to terminate woman’s employment and hire other persons.

SEXUAL HARRASMENT Today, almost all working women are prone

to sexual harassment irrespective of their status, personal characteristics and the types of their employment.

Public transport system is overcrowded and women become easy targets for physical harassment.

If a woman is praised for her work or promoted on merit, her colleagues do not hesitate to attribute it to sexual favours.

the political structure should be altered to achieve the goal.

DISCRIMINATION AT WORKPLACE Indian women are often deprived of

promotions and growth opportunities at work places but this doesn’t apply to all working women.

A majority of working women continue to be denied their right to equal pay, under the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 and are underpaid in comparison to their male colleagues. This is usually the case in factories and labour-oriented industries.

According to survey conducted by ASSOCHAM, on 1000 women professionals, around 80 per cent of the households expect their daughters-in-law to prioritize household requirements over the official work. Further, many of them are physically and psychologically abused, by their in-laws and husband but they do not complain or let others know about it, particularly if they have children.

WORKING WOMEN CAN CLAIM MAINTENANCE

A woman’s legal right to claim maintenance from her husband is recognized under section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Section 24, of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, entitles a woman to claim maintenance from her estranged husband

SAFTEY OF WORKING WOMEN WHILE TRAVELLING Typically, the orthodox mindset in the Indian

society makes it difficult for a working woman to balance her domestic environment with the professional life. In some families, it may not be acceptable to work after six o’clock

Those families that do accept these working hours may experience considerable anxiety every day about a woman’s safety while travelling. So many issues affect a working woman because she is closely protected or watched by her family and the society.

RELATIONSHIP WITH COLLEAGUES

The authorities are doubtful whether she would be able to handle male subordinates, take independent decision, cope with crisis and manage her duties.

Even though she has proved her efficiency, they think twice before promoting her. Even if she is given a chance, there is always a remark that she has been taken because she is a woman.

The male co-worker in the office cannot mentally accept the superiority of the woman's work. They get together and pass comments

WOMEN AS MANAGERS

The male subordinates do not like to accept the authority of a woman boss. If she demands work, efficiency and discipline, she is criticized as harsh and dictatorial

If she is polite, mild and courteous, she would be labeled as inefficient, talkative and what not.

Even if the woman who is working in the office with men makes only good friends with them and has no intimate relations with any one of them, she is still liable to be suspected and often accused of having intimate relations with them

OFFICE AND FAMILY

In certain government jobs the woman employee also face transfers, she finds it difficult to go, having the family behind.

If she is married she cannot go leaving her husband and children.

If she is unmarried the parents would not permit her to go alone.

In some cases women have to leave the job when the children are too young and there is nobody in the family to look after them.

Unfortunately, in our country, the system of part-time jobs has not developed yet.

NOT MUCH CHOICE

They have to accept the work they get. As she is professionally trained, she aspires

to utilize her skills to put up the best performance and to earn a proper income.

In this way many women doctors, engineers and technicians leave their profession after marriage or do work for limited hours for pleasure only.

Some traditional families in India, for example, would like their women to be posted exclusively in a girl’s college or school.

PROBLEM OF TRANSPORT

The present transport system is far from satisfactory; generally women have to suffer the worst due to misconduct or eve-teasing by co-passengers.

Sometimes they have to wait for hours on a bus stop to board a bus.

At present there is only one ladies compartment in local trains in cities like Bombay and Delhi, and that too, is often occupied by men.

The authorities should provide for more than one ladies' compartment in local trains and more 'ladies' special to solve problems of various types for the women workers.

WAGE DISCRIMINATION

Apart from lower wage rates poor urban women were rarely given any access to training schemes and their promotional avenues were severely limited.

At every level of work, they are paid lower wages , defeating the constitutional position of equal pay for work for both men and women.

CONCLUSION Traditionally men are seen as the bread

winner and women as the house-keepers, child bearers and rearers. This typecast role model continues to put obstacles before the working women. A fundamental change is required in the attitudes of the employers, policy makers, family members and other relatives and the public at large.

FINDINGS FROM OUR RESEARCH

THANK YOU