women’s weight

When the flag was hoisted in homes on 15 August, Malti ran 500 meters to the public tap in the early hours of the morning, before residents made the place. The water supply for the shy village of 10,000 residents lasts only two hours twice a day. There is no guarantee of supply even if Malti overtakes the line. In less than an hour, she takes 10-12 pots of water and makes four-five rounds of the house. She repeats the process in the evening to adequately provide for her low-income household, including her husband, two sons and in-laws. Like Malti, 75% of women across India make such time-consuming efforts every day to ensure water (NFHS-5) to their families. But the struggle does not end here. The remaining hours are spent fueling and caring – gender-related responsibilities that further confine them to their homes. For these women, household chores are freedom from doing repetitive tasks without any option due to socio-cultural norms and limited access to resources such as water, fuel and household appliances.

evict their homes

Malti’s daily exercise was no different when India turned 50. As a pre-teen on the verge of marriage, she would queue up with her mother for an hour before it was her turn at the handpump. If the handpump broke/empty, they walked 2.5 km to the public well, which promised long queues and poor quality, leading to a loss of four-five hours to collect water (National Commission for Women Report, 2005 ). Private wells of upper caste neighbours, though nearby, are inaccessible. Buying water or waiting for an unreliable tanker, though expensive, are the only options.

After collecting the water, Malti’s household chores, mainly cooking, begin. Unlike her mother’s dependence on firewood and/or agricultural residues, Malti uses a cleaner LPG cylinder, obtained under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. But with difficulties in filling gas and rising prices, she still searches for firewood like 52% of rural India (Energy, Environment and Water Council Report 2021). But Malti collects such fuel only once or twice a week, unlike her mother, who spends an hour every day (NITI Aayog). The absence of a refrigerator at home meant daily shopping and cooking three fresh meals for her family, which took three hours. Serving food, washing dishes, washing clothes and taking care of her boys, and Malti’s day is full. With rising inflation, Malti wants to increase the income of her family. They are expected to get sewing machines under the new government scheme. But it is not a relief from hard labor; After the family sleeps, it’s a few hours of work, albeit paid.

Domestic hard work has serious consequences: exhaustion, musculoskeletal disorders, low immunity, and high mental stress. This threatens the physical safety of women. Hard work also affects women from an early age. Although universal education has been promised, the average year of schooling for girls is still 4.9 compared to 7.3 for boys. It is being told that like her mother and grandmother, Malti also had to leave her school bag and shoulder water utensils. Though women bear these burdens for their families, the hard work also means less time to take care of the children. Pallavi Choudhary and Sonalde Desai (National Council of Applied Economic Research) found that it can affect children’s cognitive development and education levels.

broad issue

It is tempting to think that specific government interventions for water/fuel will save women from domestic hard labor. For example, in Gujarat’s Banaskantha, researchers found that when piped water supply into the home through micro-enterprises is combined with employment opportunities, the time spent from water collection is converted into earned income. Is. But such opportunities are beyond the reach of millions of people. Ashwini Deshpande and Jitendra Singh of Ashoka University argue that the decline in the female labor force participation rate from 35% to 17% in the mid-2000s is due to demand-side problems in the job market. The broader issue is India’s economic growth and sluggish growth in employment opportunities.

India has come a long way in 75 years, now with its second female President and women accomplished in every field. Still, women are often paraded as brand ambassadors for home appliances. Even his hard-won struggles against household chores are usually due to his efforts being supplemented by other women. There is no silver bullet to make women free from drugs. While a restructuring of domestic roles and responsibilities would be the norm, such that men contribute equally to the household, a more systematic investment, driven by continued economic growth and improved state capacity, in the delivery of quasi-public goods is also necessary.

Kadambari Shah and Shreyas Narla are research associates in the Indian Political Economy Program at the Mercatus Center, George Mason University.