Why do fewer women go to work? || Acharya Prashant, at AIIMS Nagpur (2022)
Questioner (Q): A very good evening, sir. According to the world bank, out of the total economic growth of India, women contribute only seventeen per cent. However, their Chinese counterpart country put forty per cent into their nation’s growth, as we are aiming to be a five trillion economic country in the near future. What can we do as an Indian society to enhance the economic woman workforce in our country, apart from the education sector?
Acharya Prashant (AP): If I get you right, what you're saying is that compared to Chinese women, Indian women contribute far less to the Indian economy in percentage terms, that's what you're saying? Okay. So, you're saying how to amend that. See, how you expect somebody to express herself to go out, work and produce something worthwhile if you have defined her value by the time and energy she puts into keeping your home and raising your kids. If that's how society will assess a woman’s worth, what incentive does she have to go out and work? What are you telling your women? You are telling them to stay at home, take good care of the nest, and be a nice mother. We will accord you respect. You will see how good a homemaker she is and she is doing all the fabulous things, and this and that. Now, if this is how her worth is to be determined both economically and psychologically, then tell me, what is the incentive to go out and work?
Even women with great professional degrees in India coming out from IIT, and IIMs decide to sit at home, many of them, obviously not all of them. They decide to sit at home after a point and say, “This is fine.” Why is this fine? “Because the husband is earning, and my worth is being determined by several factors other than my economic productivity. So, why do I need to take all the hassles and go out in the sun, break the heat, hit the road, and do something?”
I'll give you a very dangerous statistic. Have you heard of something called the female labour participation rate? It refers to the percentage of women who are out there working and earning.
