All women work but not all of them get paid. Housewives, who work an average of 7 hours of unpaid household and caregiving services per day, are one such category of workers, according to a Times Use survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO). The survey further showed that women are more likely to be housewives than men as 82% of women in the 1.38 lakh surveyed households reported performing unpaid domestic services. In comparison, only 27% of men were found to be doing the same thing.
In 2020, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan promised salary to housewives for their unrecognized and non-monetised labour. The proposal was part of his political party’s election manifesto and did not see the light of day after the party’s defeat in the state elections. Last year, during a ruling, the Supreme Court insisted that a woman’s work at home should be treated at par with that of her office-going husband. It states that the labor of housewives contributes to the economic condition of the family, and thus to the economy of the nation, but does not determine this value.
In this story, Mint attempts to estimate the salary of a housewife.
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Since a housewife also works towards shaping the intellectual, emotional and social well-being of the children, which generally cannot be done by an outsider even in exchange for money, and contributes to the household in many other ways which no one can hold. On a price tag, we have considered only those day-to-day operations that carry economic value for our analysis. These include cleaning the house, preparing three full meals as per the preferences of all family members and between smaller meals for children, caring for the elderly and children, helping children with homework and school projects, buying groceries and medicines. etc. are included.
Some may hire maids to do some of these tasks, but the job of a housewife is not over as she has to look after the helpers and take care of the housekeeping. In addition, there are additional functions of moving family members around for their personal errands, scheduling and overseeing home repairs, monitoring household budgets, and organizing meetings and parties, among other things.
The financial services industry has begun to recognize the economic value of a housewife’s labor. Last month, a leading private insurer launched a standalone term plan for housewives which is essential for those families who would not be able to bear the additional financial burden of managing the house in the absence of the housewife. Last year, the Supreme Court had advised that while computing estimated income in motor vehicle accidents, non-earning members, including housewives, should also be considered in determining appropriate compensation for dependents of the deceased. However, it is yet to be put into practice by the insurance companies.
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