Female Unemployment

Introduction

In October 2020, 93 in 100 urban women were suffering from a crisis called female unemployment. Female unemployment refers to the current labor gap between unemployed men and women in the workforce. The term has gained new meaning as the preexistent work epidemic has worsened in the last year. As COVID-19 destructs lives and livelihoods, the pandemic and its economic fallout are producing a regressive effect on gender equality. Gender segregation of economic activities, the worsening health crisis, and the fall of international trade have led to the genesis of the most extensive female unemployment crisis since the 1980s. 

Since the industrial revolution, participation of women in the workforce has increased in industrialized nations, with substantial growth seen in the 20th century. India's biggest challenge on the employment front has been getting its women populace into the labor force. While 67 percent of all men of working age are employed, only 9 percent of all women of working age are employed. As the capitalistic gig economy with a preference for informal jobs and fashionable components emerges, women continue to have a deteriorating time in the labor market.

Causes:

India has one of the lowest female labor force participation rates in the world. Less than a third of women are working or actively looking for a job. A UNCTAD analysis shows that the early stratagems taken by the government to curb the spread of the virus first hit occupations held predominantly by women, such as personal services. 

1. Gender gap in work sectors:  The nature of work remains significantly gender-specific: women and men tend to cluster in different occupations. This, in turn, shapes the gender implications of the pandemic. Women have significant shares in employment in three of the four most affected sectors - accommodations, food service, retail, wholesale trade, and other services. 

2. Family responsibilities: Women perform an average of 75 percent of the world’s total unpaid care work, including childcare, cooking, and cleaning. The share of women in unpaid-care work has a high and negative correlation with female labor-force participation rates. As COVID-19 has disproportionately increased the time women spend on familial obligations—by an estimated 30 percent in India— women have dropped out of the workforce at a higher rate than explained by labor-market dynamics alone.

3. Female entrepreneurs: Another factor could be COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on female entrepreneurship, including women-owned microenterprises in developing countries. The crisis has made some family resources scarce, such as financial capital or digital devices. Both digital and financial incorporation, notably access to credit from financial institutions and access to mobile banking, is closely related to the presence of women in the labor force.

4. Social mindset: The traditional societal mindsets about the role of women and the patriarchal aspects of society continue to threaten the gender dynamics to this day. For example, according to a survey, more than half the respondents in South Asian countries agreed that men have more rights to a job than women when jobs are scarce. The conservative beliefs and traditional mindsets forced upon the youth endanger the future prospects of a world with ubiquitous equality

5. Globalization: Furthermore, additional structural forces could compound gender inequality. Research on the impact of long-term automation trends on work concluded that, worldwide, 40 million to 160 million women may need to transition across occupations by 2030 as automation transforms the nature of work. However, long-established barriers to acquiring new skills and making mid-career shifts coalesced with other factors make the transition harder for women.

Effects

1. Economic: In a hypothetical scenario where women and men are parts of an equitable work environment, as much as $28 trillion could be added to global annual GDP by 2025. Even though social norms only partially explain India’s low employment rate, challenging and mitigating them changes the sequela of years of gender inequality. The transformation of social conventions will be an intergenerational process, requiring continuous strategic actions.

2. Societal: Urban women participate much lesser in the workforce than rural women. Urban women are expected to be better educated and offered better and more jobs than rural Indian women. The impact of economic shocks on younger women who join the labor force is troubling. Their participation reached 14.3 percent by the end of 2019 but plummeted to 8.7 percent in 2020.

3. Individually: The burden of economic and familial responsibility, coupled with additional social pressures, has created an unjust working environment for women. As pressure continues to mount, many women find themselves leaving their jobs or cutting back hours. In a globalization-led economy, households where women are not the primary earners, they find little to no use working in bad or unstable conditions. They take the job on offer if it is of good quality without punishing working conditions or prohibitive transaction costs. 

Women make up 39 percent of global employment but account for 54 percent of overall job losses. This means that women’s employment is plummeting faster, even as women and men work in different sectors. Hitherto, tangible progress toward gender parity had been uneven, and substantial gender gaps remained. Now, without arbitration to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women, there’s a risk that progress could go into reverse. Conversely, taking steps to rectify the balance now could improve social and economic outcomes for millions of women globally and help boost economic growth.

Solutions:

Women who want to work outside tend to struggle more than men. However, certain measures can be taken to minimize the issue.

1) Equal pay for equal work- Indian women are paid 19% less than men according to The Monster Salary Index 2019 survey. For example, in agriculture female laborers are often paid less than male laborers for the same work. Women should be paid properly to reduce their dropping off from the workforce.

2) Day-care facilities for children- Women, generally are pressurized to choose children over their careers. If the children's day-care facility is made available at the workplace then this issue can be resolved.

3) Education - Higher the education, the lower will be the rate of unemployment. The education of girls is a fundamental necessity.

4) Supporting her career-Transferable job is a big problem for married women. If a man requires a job transfer, then the whole family gets shifted to the new place. But in the same case, a woman has to sacrifice her career. Unfortunately, this happens with most of the women. The family doesn't shift to a new place for a woman.

5) Awareness - Women should be aware of government schemes for women's welfare such as MGNREGA, Mahila E-haat. Such schemes play a vital role in their empowerment.

6) Change the mindset- Even in 2021, educated as well as uneducated women are expected to look after their houses and children. The in-laws don't allow them to get out of the home to earn. They are often questioned, " Why do you need to earn if your husband is earning?" or "Who will look after your children?"

7)Increase in Maternity leaves- Maternity leave is provided for 12 weeks in India. But even this period is not enough! Many women give up their jobs due to this problem. Paid maternity leave should be given at least for 6 months. 

8)Stop sexual harassment at the workplace- Many women face sexual harassment at the workplace. They are afraid of complaining about this. Instead, they stop going to work and stay at home.

9)Improve transport facilities- Many women workers can't afford private vehicles. They are completely dependent on public transport. Public transport facilities are very poor in some places. This prevents women from going to work.

10)Participation of men- Men should equally participate in household chores and look after the children. 

11) Women Entrepreneurship – Women should initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise. Such a confident woman influences many other women. Shri Mahila Griha Udyog-Lijjat Papad is a very good example. Even less educated women can become financially independent if they work in such organizations. Not only food industries, even small-scale finance industries, called Bachat Gat play a vital role in women's employment.

Conclusion:

The post-independence Indian era has seen the growth of socio-economic dimensions of program planning and implementation. Unfortunately, the strategies and programs designed for providing employment have largely overlooked the question of gender and equity. Among the job-seekers, only the male population was the more substantial beneficiary in the economy, and the question relating to gender equity was considered insignificant to the process. But as the consciousness grows, the need of generating the whole process of social change in favor of such women began to be viewed in an entirely different context and new perspective. It is seen that the unemployed educated women toil under the double burden of gender and economic deprivation coupled with the fact that such women have access to basic needs, their income independence remains primarily invisible permitting little social recognition. The phenomenon of economic deprivation due to unemployment tends to define their social and cultural edifice, putting further restrictions on the mobility of their youth. 

There has been rapid growth in the protest against discrimination in employment and economic status and demanding better attention from the government. Yet, there are still several unsolved questions that exist within the women’s movement including their economic emancipation. These questions not only epitomize the commonality of interest on issues of equity between men and women. They also reinforce the notion that adjustment between domestic responsibilities and employment career pursuits can be put aside while the struggle to bring economic self-reliance and independence to the door of unemployed female youth continues.

Women and men need to work together if we want to boost our economy. The unemployment of urban women is a major issue for society. Efforts need to be taken to resolve this issue. Everyone can contribute to this by supporting and encouraging the employment of women, starting from our own families.

"Any society that fails to harness the energy and creativity of its women is at a huge advantage in the modern world."- Tian Wei, CCTV News.

References:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/the-list-of-et-newsmakers-2021-from-the-east-zone-is-out-take-a-look-at-the-achievers/articleshow/85201002

Credits:

Priyal Kharwadkar

Pavitra Sangrulkar

Sakshi Chavan