Facets of the Gender Gap in Labour Force Participation and Economic Empowerment Disruption: Study of the Competing Needs of Family and Work

Introduction

The corresponding numbers are 360, 256 and 353 million for men, and 43, 26 and 39 million for women, respectively. Male employment is thus 98% in August, and female employment is 91%, the respective pre-pandemic average. The normalisation of WFH, without concomitant changes that reduce the burden of domestic chores and care work, and an increase in paid work opportunities is unlikely to raise women’s participation in the labour force. As the pandemic forces our economy to hit the “reset” button, paying attention to job creation with a gender equity lens is essential for India to realise it tremendous gender dividend. International Girls' Day is an international day of celebration proclaimed by the United Nations; it is sometimes referred to as Girls' Day and International Girls' Day. Progress for teenage girls has not kept pace with the realities they face today and many of these differences have been reinforced by COVID-19. Under the theme “My Voice, Our Equal Future” this year-2020, let's take the opportunity to be motivated by what teenage girls see as the shift they want, the strategies they are leading and demanding around the globe, big and small. The National Sample Survey Office's time-use survey report released last month reveals that Indian women spend nearly four hours more on unpaid work than men, with grim implications for women's workforce participation. In addition, the minimum first step in recognising that the joint duty of men and women is parenting and childcare. The paper aims to detail the involvement of work and gender sensitivity in the Gender Equality Index-2018.

In 2017, India's Gender Inequality Index scored 0.524, placing it in the bottom 20% of ranking countries for that year. In order to hold the family together, about 65 percent of Indian men believe women should tolerate abuse, and women often deserve to be beaten. The International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) questionnaire stated in January 2011 that 24 percent of Indian men had committed sexual harassment during their lives at some point. Women are constitutionally entitled to equal rights in India's social context, but there is a great need to raise society's awareness of gender issues so that there is no problem. Women have the right to be free from sexism, abuse and violence. Removing the barriers of an unsafe atmosphere will help women, as individuals and contributors to employment, societies, and economies, fulfil their potential. In addition, for workers who became new fathers, Zomato rolled out 26 weeks of paid paternity leave. Many private corporations, too, give paternity leave, without the prodding of legislation. If more women are not to drop out of the job grid, the post COVID reality makes it much more important for workplaces to allow men to take more responsibilities at home. But the primary reason for encouraging more men to step up is not a utilitarian calculation. The advancement of equality has been evaluated for far too long by the number of women accommodated in productivity and performance systems. The hierarchy that devalues the function of treatment, which, despite its drudgery, is central to the messiness and sense of being human, has not been challenged. It is a hierarchy that gives rise to distant patriarchs and men who fear emotional life. For Indian men and women, paternity leave that gives them time to become fathers is a win-win for both. “As per New data released by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's National Centre for Health Statistics surveying nearly 32,000 adults and 6,800 children across more than 33,000 households reveals that in 2019 women were more likely to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety than men, and more likely to receive counselling or therapy, or take prescription medication, to promote their mental health” (Khatri, Tina 2020).

Source: NSO Time Use Survey 2019; Care Work and Care Jobs for the future of decent work (ILO).