The topic become talk of the day after MNM leader Dr. Kamal Haasan (Chiku buku chiku buku big boss- just joking), announced that the party would recognize homemakers as salaried professional and would pay wages for their work at home.
It is not something new to us. This was the demand of women’s movement for years. The Third National Women's Liberation conference, in England in 1972, for the first time explicitly demanded payment of wages for the household work and since four decades have passed. Before going still further I would like to make clear that the views expressed are personal.
WHAT?
To start simply, what are the domestic work our moms do in a day ? She starts her day early in the morning, cooks breakfast and lunch (In my home both are same unfortunately😂), washes your clothes, irons it, washes all the utensils, keeps the home clean and more than anything else, never ever failed to shower love upon us despite all her works. Eurekavillage personally want to appreciate all mothers at this moment, so share this article with your mother, guys!
So we have appreciated her effort, is that enough? Actually no. But why?
If she has done that same work in some other’s home she will be termed as a maid and she would be paid wages for it. They put all her labour and it can't be ignored just like that. In Indian society where there is a prevailing "devi-dasi" dichotomy, married women are taken for granted to do all the domestic work. Paying the home maker is a way forward in achieving gender equality.
WHY?
Home and market for centuries were considered as two distinct spheres, which prevented domestic works to be recognized as an economically productive activity. However, Time Use in India-2019 report says that on an average Indian women spend 299 minutes a day on unpaid domestic services for household members, which is equal to 5 hours a day. And an additional unpaid caregiving services of 134 minutes a day.
A proper all India legislation recognizing the domestic work as an economic activity will be the first step in this regard. Then we have to make sure that the benefit really reaches the targeted beneficiary. If the wage is disbursed by the government itself then the same has to be reached to the hands of women not their husbands and such amount has to be spent by her for her. To look forward, we have lot of challenges to convert this dream into a successful scheme.
HOW?
Calculation itself is a great task to accomplish and I don’t think leaving that stuff to the benevolence of their husbands will achieve the objective. However in India family of housewives who have died of road accidents is provided compensation by calculating notional income by considering factors such as age, educational qualification, children etc.
The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in a judgement observed that,
Monetizing the domestic work will reduce the dependency of wives of husbands which will empower them, on the other hand the same will introduce employer- employee relationship between husband and wife which is unhealthy to the family.
WAY FORWARD?
I have tried as far as to stay neutral and leave the final decision to the readers themselves. But many interesting and debatable questions surround this topic.
- How will the calculation of income be done?
- Whether love and affection gets diluted if she is paid for it ?
- What about men who does household works?
- Whether it will be included in national income or not?
Good work Eurekavillage🙂The sharing of works and moral support by men gives a lots of energy and pleasure to women and every homemaker would expect the same! Calculating their income might be right but practically not possible!
ReplyDeleteGood work😇💥
ReplyDeleteNice work.
ReplyDeleteI believe this Scheme will reduces the durability the homemakers facing in our society and will promote their independency,which I think is good which helps to further break the shackles of social constrain/ construct.It is to be noted that the productive work of male depends on the selfeless chores of his homemaker at home ,so I believe they deserve the credit which we often forget.