Context:
The low female labor force participation rate (FLFPR) has been at the center of discussions about women’s empowerment. According to the Economic Survey 2023-24, India’s FLFPR was 37% in 2022-23, compared to the global average of 47.8% in 2022. While this is an improvement from 23.3% in 2017-18, 37.5% of this group consists of “unpaid helpers in household enterprises,” meaning women who work without pay, separate from domestic tasks.
Relevance:
GS2- Issues Related to Women
GS3-
- Employment
- Issues Relating to Development
Mains Question:
Suggest measures to address caregiving responsibilities of women to promote their participation in the workforce. How successful have government initiatives been in this regard? (10 Marks, 150 Words).
Significance of Women’s Involvement in Economy:
- Women’s active involvement in the economy is essential for reducing gender inequality.
- A significant factor contributing to women’s low economic participation is the disproportionately heavy burden of caregiving they bear within families, which includes not only childcare but also care for other household members like the elderly, sick, and disabled.
- In addition to these responsibilities, they also perform other domestic work. In India, women aged 15-64 spend about three times more time than men on unpaid domestic tasks each day.
Addressing childcare needs:
- To boost women’s participation in the labor force, there is now a focus on addressing childcare needs.
- Some state governments are working to enhance support services through the existing Anganwadi network.
- The 2024-25 Budget saw a 3% increase in funding for the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s integrated childcare and nutrition program (Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 scheme).
- The Ministry is also developing a policy framework to address childcare requirements. Various models of community-based childcare centers are operational in parts of some states, through partnerships between government and non-government organizations.
- It would be valuable to assess these models for their potential replicability, financial sustainability, and scalability.
- Expanding a network of childcare centers suited to local contexts in rural, tribal, and urban areas is necessary to enable women to join the workforce.
Distributing Caregiving Responsibilities:
- However, focusing solely on childcare needs offers a limited perspective. Women often serve as primary caregivers throughout the life cycle of household members.
- For women to participate more fully in the economy, their caregiving responsibilities need to be redistributed. The demand for external support, such as hired caregivers, is growing in urban and peri-urban areas.
- Yet, there are no standardized processes for employing such workers. Domestic workers often take on caregiving roles without proper training or protection.
- There are no established minimum wages, employment standards, safety and security measures, or quality standards for care provided by hired workers.
- Shifting care responsibilities away from women requires the creation of an ecosystem that addresses household care needs while safeguarding the rights of care workers.
- This system should ensure that care workers are well-trained, receive fair wages, and are treated with dignity and respect, while also providing safe, high-quality, and affordable care.
Way Forward:
- On the demand side, the first step is to conduct a needs-based assessment to determine the appropriate mix of care services required across different age groups, socio-economic statuses, and geographic areas.
- Additionally, a thorough mapping of supply-side actors and institutions, including those from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, is essential.
- As demand for care services increases due to rising incidences of ill-health and disabilities throughout a family’s life, the availability and quality of care workers have become major policy concerns.
- Care workers may be employed directly by families or through placement agencies, nursing bureaus, hospitals, home healthcare companies, and non-profit organizations.
- The more organized providers offer training for their workers and have multidisciplinary teams to address diverse needs, including specialized nursing, palliative care, and end-of-life care at home.
- However, without established standards and regulations, the availability, accessibility, affordability, and quality of these services vary by region.
- Addressing the gap in training, skilling, and certification of the diverse care workforce needed to meet growing demand is essential.
- The Domestic Workers Sector Skill Council (now the Home Management and Care Givers Sector Skill Council), the Healthcare Sector Skill Council, and the National Skill Development Corporation are key organizations involved in the skilling and certification of various care worker cadres.
- Unfortunately, the labor-intensive and emotionally demanding care sector does not receive the respect, compensation, or dignity it deserves, making it a critical area for policy intervention.
- The World Economic Forum’s report on the ‘Future of Care Economy’ highlights three key perspectives: viewing the care economy as a driver of economic productivity, recognizing its relevance from a business standpoint as both an investment and employment opportunity, and understanding it from a human rights perspective with a focus on gender equality and disability inclusion.
Conclusion:
A comprehensive policy that defines the care ecosystem from a life course perspective is needed. A committee composed of the Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare, Labour and Employment, Social Justice and Empowerment, and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship would be ideal for initiating this process.
