The theme of International Women’s Day 2022 (March 8) is ‘Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’. However, gender equality is still a far cry for India’s female informal workforce. According to a 2018 study by the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than 95% of India’s working women are informal workers, working in labour-intensive, low-paying, highly precarious jobs/conditions, and without any social security. Of.

A bulletin from the World Health Organization states that “women’s informal work is central to the feminization of poverty”. Although we know little about how informal work affects maternal, neonatal and child health, the lack of childcare solutions remains a serious concern. India is ahead of many advanced countries in the establishment of maternal health benefits, and its statutory maternity leave ranks among the global top three. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 more than doubled the period of paid maternity leave for women employees to 26 weeks, proposing the option to work from home after this period, upon mutual agreement with the employer, and Crche facilities made mandatory for establishments. Employing 50 or more women.

However, these benefits mostly go to women workers in the formal sector, who make up less than 5% of the female workforce. Another ILO study in 2016 reported that a lack of access to quality childcare services forces female workers to leave the labor force, lose their earnings, and expose themselves to discriminatory employment practices and significant economic and health risks. .

India has paid little attention to addressing concerns regarding childcare support for informal women workers. Here are three ways to enable women to take more productive paid work and improve their maternal and child health outcomes: Expanding the infrastructure of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS); Reviving the National Child Home Schemes and improving maternity benefits.

Extension of ICDS

The primary mandate of Anganwadi Centers under ICDS is to provide maternal and child nutritional security, a clean and safe environment, and early childhood education, thus facilitating women’s ability to re-enter work after delivery. However, it has two major limitations. Firstly, it does not cater to children under three years of age. Second, it operates only for a few hours a day, making it inconvenient to send and pick up children during working hours or take advantage of take-home rations provided to pregnant women and families with young children. Is. Early intake of children in Anganwadi centers can have dual benefits – giving mothers time off for paid work and convergence with the National Education Policy 2020 which seeks to provide quality early childhood care and education for children in the 0-6 age group. accepts. Time constraints for working women can also be overcome by increasing the timings of Anganwadi centres. However, these expansions will also require expansion of care worker infrastructure, especially anganwadi workers and helpers, who are already overburdened and underpaid.

revive the crche scheme

The Rashtriya Shishu Greh Yojana makes specific provisions for working women, but there has been a reduction in government funding. An inclusive approach is needed to diversify the workplace and working hours and address implementation gaps. Revitalizing the provisions of the scheme and linking the network of public and workplace crches can be extremely beneficial. Public crches can be operated by workplace clusters such as industrial areas, markets, dense low-income residential areas, and labor. Nakaso, Crches close to the workplace allow timely breastfeeding and attending to emergencies. This model has been successfully tested by Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) Sangini in some Indian cities. Where work takes place on a single site, such as a garment factory or construction site, a worksite crche will help; As seen in construction site creches run by Aajeevika Bureau (Ahmedabad) and Mobile Crches (Delhi). The construction sector is one such case where the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board orders running of crches. The funds collected under construction cess can be earmarked for running creches at construction sites.

some benefits

Childbirth and child care are financially stressful and many women are forced to return to work within weeks of delivery. Women in informal employment did not have maternity benefits until the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, entitles pregnant and lactating mothers to cash transfers of at least ₹6,000. However, the scheme notified for this purpose, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) limits the benefit to the first birth and reduces the amount to ₹5,000.

States such as Tamil Nadu (Dr Muthulakshmi Maternity Benefit Scheme), Rajasthan (Indira Gandhi Matritva Poshan Yojana), Odisha (Mamata Yojana), Gujarat (Kasturba Poshan Sahay Yojana), and Chhattisgarh (Kaushalya Matritva Yojana) attempt to bridge the coverage gap. Encouraging health-seeking behaviours. Of these, Tamil Nadu has a huge and ambitious scheme that offers ₹18,000 in cash and kind for two live births. Right to Food (Demands that universal and unconditional maternity rights of at least six months of minimum wage for pregnant women and lactating mothers be implemented.

Cash transfers under PMMVY are inadequate for both the grassroots assessment and NFSA benchmarks as well as nutritional needs and wage compensation. Compensation, which is less than the minimum wage, is insufficient to postpone the mother’s return to work for the first six months. This amount does not match the inflation-adjusted NFSA benchmark (approximately ₹9,400 in 2022).

The lack of affordable and quality childcare services and maternity benefits increases the burden on informal women workers, leading to gender and class inequalities. Currently, it is up to individuals and families to find solutions to this one-worker-mother tension, which is causing enormous loss to women, girls and children. It is imperative that we treat affordable and quality childcare infrastructure as an employment benefit and a public good.

https://news.bharattimes.co.in/international-womens-day-working-women-too-with-dreams-of-good-child-care/