12 Women’s Employment

Sayani Das

Introduction

Women represent about 48 percent of the total population in India. However, in the employment market, women’s participation is much lower.

National statistics show that out of the 459 million employed population, women constitute only about 148 million.

Even of this, only about 50.16 Lakhs or 5 million women are in organized sectors and 120 million are in unorganized sectors.

The societal value of women’s work and non-conducive work environment in unorganized sector are critical issues to women’s participation in employment.

Women juggle with the double burden – i) managing household work and ii) complement family income.

The complication and ‘invisibility’ of women’s productive work and ‘poor’ conditions of work are now debated widely.

More appropriately, the ‘triple burdens’on women – i) paid work, ii) housework, and iii) child/elder care – influence to a great extent on the type of work and the availability of work for women in society.

Moreover, the existing socio-cultural norms define ‘acceptable’ work and delimit women’s participation and force them to engage in unorganized rather than organized sectors.

In fact, prime age group women (b/w 15-59 years) engage themselves in principal duties of home/domestic responsibilities.

However, most vulnerable to economic exploitation are the poor, illiterate and women and girl children from rural areas.

Moreover, discrimination of women at the workplace is ever present in both unorganized and organized sectors.

These are the poor working conditions and environment, long duration and short durability of work, lower earnings and higher wage gaps, lack of labour rights and welfare, and lack of safety and security conditions at work for women in both sectors.

Widespread unregulated conditions at work lead to exploitation that are manifested in different ways, from gender-based harassment to sexual harassment.

Gender discrimination, job-typing, and occupational segregation are not always explicit but exist implicitly, directly or indirectly, at home/work/community/society.

Gender based discrimination in employment is profound and evident in the recruitment process:

Nature of work, Opportunity of training and capacity building, Evaluation of work performance, Fixing of wages and incentives, Denial to take-up rewarding work, Denial of promotion, Glass-ceiling to leadership position, Sexual favours, and so on.

Module Objectives are to educate students on the

1. History of Women and Work

2. Women in the Economy of Today

3. Factors that affect Women in the Workplace

4. Effects of Work on Women

History of Women and Work

Women are not new to concept of work
The differences we see today were prompted by industrial age.
However, work roles for men and women in vedic age were more equitable than today.

Women and Work in Colonial India

Men and women had many shared activities, they worked as part of household economy, gender roles were then more fluid.

But tasks were generally assigned by age and sex.

Women had exclusive responsibility for management of household economy. They typically had 7-9 children.

Colonial India Roles were physically demanding – they made soap, candles, fabric, clothes, chopped wood, prepared meals, cared for children.

4 All women operated under constraints of English legal and Patriarchal social system – “women depended on men, this was necessary and regarded as proper”.

Industrial Era

Industrial Revolution of 1839 dramatically changed relationship of individuals to their work.
Agriculture started becoming commercialized.
Work and home roles became more separate.
Therefore, men increasingly worked outside home for paid wages.
While women’s domestic work was still exhausting and remained un-paid.
Industrial Era
Women became more involved in socialization of children.
Women also expected to attend to men’s emotional as well as physical needs in the family.
Gradual but perhaps biggest change was the absence of men from the household. It also reduced the social visibility of women’s domestic work.

The (de-) value of Domestic Work

Women’s work at home was perceived to be in leisurely role.
Men associated ‘home’ with rest, relaxation, place of seclusion from stress.
Since men didn’t associate home with work, they also failed to associate women with work.

Women and Work during 19th Century

Very few women worked in paid labour force (estimated to be less than 5%).
Most women worked in textile factories because of the demand of manufacturing sector.
Those women who remained in the home often took on laundry, sewing, piecework for others.

Expansion of Work Roles

By the end of 19th Century, large corporations began to form, Government started expanding, migration, transportation, communication increased.

These changes led to gradual increase in work opportunities for women.
Women therefore entered in caring jobs, clerical and sales jobs and also moved into teaching jobs.
WWI and WWII mass media campaigns triggered women’s participation into traditional male related jobs.
On the contrary, 1950s mass media campaign urged women to be back into the home.
1950s and 1960s social pressure on women were to stay at home and increase in childbirths for stronger nation.

Women in Economy of Today

Census 2011

Workforce Participation Rate is 25.51% for Females against 53.26% for Males. In Rural Sector it is better (30.02% Females against 53.03% Males) while in Urban Sector it is (15.44% Females against 53.76% Males).

Women Employment in Organized Sector is only in total 20.5% with 18.1% working in the Public Sector and 24.3% in the Private Sector.

Women in Economy of Today

Census 2011

Unemployment Rate in Rural Areas is less (2.9 for Females against 2.1 for Males), while in Urban Areas it is more (6.6 for Females against 3.2 for Males).

Average Wage/Salary in Rural Areas is Rs. 428.66/day for Females against Rs. 550.23/day for Males. Whereas in Urban Areas it is Rs. 609.70/day for Females against Rs. 805.22/day for Males.

Globalization & Women’s Work

Marked feature of neo-liberal policy of globalization is enlightened self-interest activated through market forces.

It impacted on urban, rural and dalit/tribal poor women as paid, underpaid and unpaid workers of Indian economy.

During the 1990s, employment of middle-aged men and women decreased and employment of adolescent girls and child labour increased. Women were and are given less skilled and underpaid jobs of lower pay.

Central Government’s social sector budgetary cuts especially for balwadis and crèches enhanced the burden of poor working women. Economy thrived on young women’s super-exploitation, whereby, employers overlook occupational health hazards and paying lower wages.

Dual Economy

Globalization led to Dual economy, whereby, individuals with similar levels of education and skills get differential wages due to casualization and subcontracting of the workforce.

Introduction of contract system in public sector has institutionalised dual economy model.

Differential Wage Policies in public as well as private sectors are-

Permanent workers/employees
Adhoc/Consolidated salaried workers
Daily wagers
Hourly based workers

Menial chores in railways, banks, teachers in educational institutions are the best examples of dual economy.

Job & Wage Discrimination

Migrants face job discrimination in pre-entry phase and wage discrimination in post entry phase.

Migrant workers remain the first to be fired and the last to be hired.

Dualistic Models promotes differentiation based on language, caste, religion, gender, age, migration status, ethnic background and exclusion from informal networks (like- trade unions, worker’s associations, cooperative societies, social clubs, cultural organizations) for upward economic mobility.

Segmentation in the Labour Market

Segmentation begins in the rural areas between asset rich against poor who migrate to urban areas for jobs.

1. Income differs widely between these two segments.

2. Mobility between them is limited

The asset-less poor women are most adversely affected by globalisation as traditional support systems of kinship and extended family networks have been eroded.

Displacement due to mega development project renders poor women homeless and unemployed.

3. Workers in casual sector are predominantly young and single men and women, while workers in regular sector are older and married.

Factors that Affect Women in Workplace

Stereotypes
Token employees
Queen bees
Access Discrimination
Evaluation & Promotion Bias / Glass Ceiling
Leaves (Unpaid)
Sexual Harassment
Occupational Segregation
Salary Differentials / Pay Gap
Why do these factors occur?

In large part because of our social construction of gender!!

2 primary causes of Wage Gap

1. Job Segregation – few jobs are held by 50% men, 50% women. Those held by women usually not valued nor paid as highly.

2. Entitlement – individual’s sense of what s/he is entitled to receive as pay due to his/her position at work.

Sex-Segregated Occupations

Over 80% Female
Secretaries, Stenographer98%
Health Carer 85%
Financial Recordkeeping 91%
Household Maids 90%
Child care workers 83%
Over 80% Male
Mechanics & Repairs 97%
Construction labours 97%
Engineers 92%
Health Diagnosing 83%
Managers 85%
Farm Operators 85%

Have women broken the glass ceiling yet?

Glass Ceiling refers to the seen, yet unreachable barrier that keeps women and minorities from rising to the upper rungs of the organizational ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.

6.6% executives are general category women, 2.6% are minority women.

Global Connections of Poverty

(B. Lott)

Although women are 50% of population, they own only 1% of world’s property and 10% of world’s income.
Conditions of women’s lives provide markers of poverty and hunger.
Women comprise two-thirds of the world’s illiterate with no economic opportunity.
Even a little education for women pays dividends in every index of social progress and development.

Effects of Work on Women

Marriage
Household Tasks
Children
Personal Adjustment

Marriage

Employment leads to delayed marriage for many.
Sure, it’s getting better but still the predominant ideology is that man’s job comes first – i.e., job transfers.
Women more likely to choose job to fit family needs. Resultant 3 kinds of marriage evolved: traditional, modern, egalitarian

Marital Bliss

In general, marriage is not as satisfying for women.
Jesse Bernard studied mental and physical health of single and married men and women found that:
Married men are healthier, likelier to get better-paying jobs & higher pay than unm men.
Married men commit fewer crimes and live longer than unmarried men.
Married women are 2 to 3 times more likely to report physical and emotional problems.

Household Tasks

Household chores generally not fun for most men and women.
Dissatisfaction with gender inequity in household tasks is one of the greatest barrier to national economic growth.
Women are therefore in the double/trebble disadvantage or burdened.
Women who work outside home are the most dissatisfied with household task division. Household Tasks
Housework generally not a seen, and therefore not a valued task.
J. Birnbaum found that homemakers to have:
Social isolation, Lack of reward for job well done, Financial dependence creating feelings of frustration, Little/no control on family decision.

Children

Much stress, guilt, and stress among working mothers in both organized and unorganized sectors.
There is lack of quality for child care available for mother’s support.
Non-implementation of Maternity Act Benefit for women employees in the organized sector leads to drop-out from jobs..

Personal Psychological Adjustment

There are 2 opposite hypotheses on women in work:

I) Scarcity – work makes one feel tired, overwhelmed, unable to do all household tasks.
II) Enhancement – work gives one more energy.

Certainly many women experience – role strain, but that can be minimized by healthy physical habits.

Physical Health

Role strain could lead to poor health, but some studies show that employed women are healthier.

According to Hochschild’s in his book The Second Shift, he mentioned that for many women, work is mentally stimulating, work encourages social interaction between people with similar interests, and increases self-esteem of women.

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