By Xinhua,
New Delhi : Work and family life remain a difficult choice to be reckoned with for the Indian women, according to a recent survey released here.
The survey “Through the magnifying glass: women’s work and labor force participation in urban Delhi” carried out by the Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST), a non-profit non-governmental organization, took a representative sample of 700 households all over Delhi, Hindustan Times reported.
It found as many as 29 percent working women and 36 percent non-working women cited “children get neglected” as a negative impact that hampers them from going to work. “Conflict over domestic chores” was mentioned by 20 percent working and 19 percent non-working women.
Other negative changes with work included loss of family status, conflict over earning, bad example for female relatives and threat to joint family systems.
Contrary to common belief that work brought about more money thus higher family status, nearly 12 percent non-working and six percent working women felt it led to loss of family status.
However, positive fallout with work included more economic security, more experience and knowledge, stronger personality and enlarged social network.
Thirty-four percent non-working and 31 percent working women felt work could bring more economic security, while 28 percent working and 26 percent non-working felt it brought more experience and knowledge. Twenty-two percent working women and 20 percent non-working women felt it made for “stronger personality”.
Close to half the women educated above graduation do join the workforce, according to the survey. Participation of women in the age group 21-34 years was close to 34 percent, which came down to 17 percent in the age group 35-49 years.
The report said increasing reproductive workload could be a reason for lower participation in later years. It also may indicate that younger generation has a higher propensity to work.
“Only 10 women among the respondent pool reported increase in household tension after they started working. However, once asked about other known families close to half the respondents said they had heard of conflict in other families due to women working. Worrisome signs were reported by several female investigators during the survey. One investigator witnessed wife-beating and another observed visible signs of physical abuse,” the report said.