Where women work, and don't: A map of female labor force participation around the world
Facts: Women in the World
(Ref - https://library.thinkquest.org/12336/facts.html,
1. There are 6 million more women than men in the world.
2. Women perform 66% of the worlds work, but receive only 11% of the world's income
3. Women own 1% of the world's land
4. In parts of India and South Asia, there is a strong preference for having sons. Girls can be perceived as a financial burden for the family due to small income contributions and costly dowry demands.
5. In India, pre-natal sex selection and infanticide accounted for the pre-natal termination and death of half a million girls per year over the last 20 years.1
--
During my engineering studies I have often found seniors being asked the same question, during the farewell ceremony.
"If ever in life you have to choose between husband and career, whom would you choose?"
And without giving it a second thought 90% would answer "Of course husband"
In those days I used to wonder, why such people even come to study in a prime institute of India? (Forget the amount of hardships they might have undergone to clear the joint entrance exams). Back in 90s it was said that per each seat in a government engineering college, the government spends Rs 1L; now it should be at least 10 times. This money comes from the only few Lakh tax payers out of the population of 120 CR. Why some people waste a seat in a reputed government college, if they have no serious plans/will to work? They could have studied home science instead. The same seat could have been allocated to someone in real need to shoulder responsibility of family.
Later in life, I met many more such persons. In fact in work field most people do not prefer ladies especially in challenging projects. It's a general opinion, women mostly think of only salary that they get at the end of the month and never miss leaving office at 5.30 PM. Ownership at work place is seldom seen in female employees. I have heard many young girls at work gossiping "I wish to have an extremely rich husband, so that after marriage I do not have to work". They even do not consider the fact that (God forbid) if something evil happens to that sole earner, what they could do to resume status in life? And for such ladies the handful of hard working females has to suffer.
So many years have passed since I graduated! Out of all my female classmates and seniors, the ones who had such opinions, either never worked or worked for 2-3 years and then came to an abrupt end as they became 24/7 home-makers. However few who had strong affinity to work; managed their work life along with family. They still had breaks for maternity factor, however resumed work as soon as they could.
Today in India we talk of social evils against women; dowry, abuse, female feticide etc. Strong laws have been put in place. As per the laws
1. If a female complains regarding her in-laws/husband of torture, they would be put behind the bars with non-bailable warrant.
2. If a married woman sleeps with another man, the man could face imprisonment, not the woman.
Well people this happens only in India. Could any amount of non-impartial laws like this bring female equality in our society? Why do we need such laws at all? Can't we take the ownership of our own lives? Who is responsible for the second class treatment of females at every step of life in our country? And why India only?
1. When we speak of equality of rights, we should speak of equality of duties too.
2. How many of us are willing to shoulder the financial, emotional, moral support that our parents seek in a son?
3. How many of us would oppose reservation of seats (Engg and medical colleges) for females?
4. How many of us would oppose special seats for women in public transport?
5. How many of us would oppose hefty amount of money spent on our and our children's weddings and say "NO" to dowry?
6. How many of us (the working women especially) love their work as much as they love their family? How many work for more than the financial factor? How many seek their identity for being financially independent?
7.And lastly, how many of us would encourage our girls to be home-makers and have no career of their own? J
The poor plight of Indian women today is because of our own mentality. By working we don't only fulfill our financial needs, but we also add to the overall development of the country. Today our country lacks skilled professionals.
1. 1. India Needs 7 Lakh Additional Doctors by 2025 - https://healthcare.financialexpress.com/200809/market14.shtml
2. 2. India needs 4 million civil engineers by 2020: Report -
3. 3. Where Are India's Skilled Workers? - https://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_03/b4211008095156.htm
And well-educated, intelligent women prefer to stay back at home.
Work not only gives us financial independence, job satisfaction; also it brings us positive energy as we are able to utilize the God given gift (our brain) in a fruitful way. Saying so, I do not demean the demands of a woman at home front. However in 21st century, we got ample helping hands available to tackle that part. The self-esteem and equal treatment of women in India could be achieved only by creating value in million lives.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Mahadev And Sons
Cricket
