Why motherhood makes Indian women quit their jobs

[prasad1]

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Barely a month after she informed her bosses in India that she was pregnant with her first child, a woman journalist got the shock of her life.
In her inbox was a curt termination letter from her employer, a leading news channel. Her performance, it said, had been "unsatisfactory".

She hit back and sued her employer. She told the court that the "termination was illegal and flouted labour laws" by denying her the protection and benefits extended to pregnant women workers. Three years later, the court instructed the channel to give her her job back with back wages. The channel has appealed against the ruling.


India's maternity laws allow working women three months of paid leave and job protection.

But the reality can often be different: India's labour courts received more than 900 complaints of denial of maternity benefits by employers between 2008 and 2012. But most working women, when denied maternity benefits, do not go to court, they just stop working.


According to a 2013 World Bank study, only 27% of the female population aged over 15 is working in India. This is the lowest rate of women's participation in any workforce among the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, with the highest in China at 64%.
Professor Padmini Swaminathan, senior researcher at Mumbai's Tata Institute of Social Sciences, says the situation is unlikely to improve soon.


"Unlike the West, in India it is very common for employers to probe the marital status and family situation from a woman seeking a job. It is a big consideration in selection, so it is not wrong if women feel discriminated against." Mr Aggarwal does point at a fledgling trend among big companies that are now providing child-care facilities and flexi-work options. "But it still remains a huge challenge. A large majority of medium-level businesses don't have the financial infrastructure for this nor do they feel compelled in any way. After all there is no shortage of men in the work force."

Why motherhood makes Indian women quit their jobs - BBC News

 

[vgane]

In fact if there are seniors at home who can take care of the child/children a woman's career takes off and raises like a phoenix..Otherwise it is consumed by the ashes

 

[cmano1981]

I know families who have placed Nannies to take care of the children after school. Some others put them in extra time at school. However it is a struggle, but I have seen ladies who have succeeded by all of them. Great thing still the children are best and not get into wrong side by lack of attention from parents. Men who supports their families closely compromising in focus in office, lose their progress in official front. Life is full of compromises sadly!

 

[prasad1]

In fact if there are seniors at home who can take care of the child/children a woman's career takes off and raises like a phoenix..Otherwise it is consumed by the ashes

Unfortunately the seniors may be in their home and not near the grand kids. Jobs are in Metro cities and many Grand Parents are in ancestral place, either by choice or by circumstances.