‘Indian women work 10 times more at home than their male counterparts’

JAIPUR: Former Indian diplomat Lakshmi Puri claimed that globally women work 2.9 times more at home than their male counterparts, while in India, it is nearly 10 times more work is a marker which defines the condition of women. Puri, journalist Shaili Chopra and author Minnie Vaid were in conversation with United Nations Women India representative Susan Ferguson during a session on “Women and Work” at JLF on Saturday.
“Women get no compensation for the domestic work not even thank you. The value of women’s domestic work at home is so huge that it is calculated that 15% of GDP can be added to the total GDP of Asia-Pacific nations,” said Puri, who also raised the concern for women in the labour market. “The distortion in the labour market impacts the women’s entry and exit in the workforce especially young women in the childbearing age group,” said Puri.
Vaid claimed that 16% of the scientist in the ISRO are women highlighting the gender imbalance in the workforce everywhere.
“During my book research, I found that no women were at the centre director level at ISRO. The possible reason is that such institutions are based on hierarchy and 30 years ago there were fewer women in the job,” said Vaid.
She recalled the instances from interviews of women scientists that many male colleagues referred to them as women scientists. “One scientist told me that once she was told how she was never treated a woman,” said Vaid.
Sharing her views, Susan Ferguson, said, globally, women spend two to 10 times more time on unpaid care work than men. In India, the problem also exists owing to cultural and societal norms that expects women to prioritise their caregiving role over career aspirations.”