Just 15 per cent of working women split daily tasks equally with their partner, which means an overwhelming 85 per cent are shouldering the major part of household responsibilities while simultaneously being breadwinners. (Representational/File)
We already knew it. A new survey gives more evidence
Written by Rinku Ghosh
May 16, 2023 06:55 IST
Despite talk of equity, inclusivity and respect for all humans, the role of women in the workplace continues to be just a conversation starter, quickly forgotten after a panel discussion.
This has been proven once again by the latest edition of Deloitte’s Women@Work report, where working women, who were just about reclaiming their space after the pandemic, seem to be sliding back as they fight old biases and constructs.
Considering that women were tracked across urban India, from junior to senior management — the so-called privileged layer — the results are particularly troubling and belie any claim of being a progressive society.
Just 15 per cent of working women split daily tasks equally with their partner, which means an overwhelming 85 per cent are shouldering the major part of household responsibilities while simultaneously being breadwinners.
According to the report, 42 per cent of women take on the sole responsibility of household tasks along with their job. This seems dramatic because, during the pandemic years, many urban men proudly took up chores, which was seen as influencing participatory male behaviour. A detergent company ran a “share the load” advertisement campaign with celebrity couples but within a year, men in cities seem to have slipped back to their culturally conditioned patterns of behaviour.
Was it then an emergency response system during a crisis, the primal alpha male syndrome at play, the need to play protector? Social scientists are still debating this point but most veer around to the understanding that while men may have become more accepting of gender parity, domestic chores are something they don’t see in congruence with role responsibilities, always seeing them as a subject of female efficiency and expertise. However, such explanations can at best be an excuse and cannot hold in a dynamic society where evolution and adaptation are key to survival. One might be culturally conditioned to mimic patterns of behaviour but skills are always acquired, not programmed.
The survey further shows that even when they are primary or equal earners, women are disproportionately responsible for childcare. Seventy per cent of women accepted the larger household role, saying their partner is the primary earner. The fact is that women step back and choose to get bypassed for promotions, making men the bigger earner by default. When it comes to childcare, women tend to take more flexible work options to balance both ends. And it is the larger societal endorsement of this “stay at home” allowance as a “strictly” maternal territory that men use as an excuse for avoiding household chores. Even if some men have the intent, there are no enablers for greater paternal responsibilities. There’s no uniform paid paternity leave policy for new fathers.
This is in contrast to developed societies in the West. Finland, for example, allows seven months of leave for employees, male or female. In Sweden, both parents are entitled to a collective leave of 480 days, split equally. Policy-makers need to look at paid paternity leave as an enabler because only then will the father be encouraged to take part in childcare and become sensitive to the mother’s needs. This sensitivity is then expected to extend to role-sharing in household duties.
Otherwise, Indian women will continue to be split wide open, juggling responsibilities, always on edge trying to keep the balls in the air. The survey has already shown that half of them have higher levels of stress and mental health issues than their global counterparts in just a year (53 per cent).
The fact that women in senior positions are quitting jobs which do not allow them flexibility despite hybrid work being the new norm means they are making conscious choices to not be overlooked or left behind. It comes as no surprise that 91 per cent of them are unhappy that their organisations aren’t taking any steps to ensure gender diversity, stop them from quitting or support policy decisions taken by them. If these headwinds continue, India will lose its competitive edge to representational biases. For, talent is gender agnostic. © The Indian Express (P) Ltd