Indian women gaining economic independence

THE WORK FORCE: Almost 26 per cent of the total women population works in India.

          

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Keywords: State Of The Nation, Women

What drives Indian woman towards picking up a job? Do women in India get sufficient support at home and at work to sustain their jobs? Does a job bring equal rewards to woman as it does to man? Do women themselves come in the way of pursuing their careers or does society?

The CNN-IBN-CSDS-Indian Express State of the Nation Survey focuses the issue of Indian women and economic independence.

According to the 2001 Census of India almost 26 per cent of the total women population works in India. In rural areas the figure is considerably higher at almost 31 per cent while in urban areas the figure stands at just about 12 per cent. Of this total workforce of women more than two-thirds are engaged in agricultural work.

The Indian Express-CNN-IBN-CSDS survey quizzed about 4,000 women, a little over half in urban India, across 20 states to check how well founded these impressions are. The findings expose many myths and reveal a new face of the working women in India.

What do such views tell about the Indian woman? CNN-IBN’s Business Editor Paromita Chatterjee asked this to Ritu Nanda, Chairperson, RNIS, Reema Nanavaty, Director, Economic and rural development, SEWA, Hema Ravichandran, Strategic HR consultant and Ashwini Kakkar Vice Chairman, Mercury Travels.

Economic independence of Indian women

According to the survey we asked women, who don't work, that if they were given an opportunity to work from home would they grab it. 58 per cent women said they would like to work from home. Amongst those below 25 years 67 per cent would like to work from home. Almost 34 per cent working women said that they would like to work from home if given that opportunity.

The survey shows only 11 per cent of the total working forces coming up from urban India. How important is economic independence to the Indian women. What’s been the motivating factor for women when they come up and join the entire career cycle?

Answering to the question Ravichandran said, "The most important reason really is that women want to use their higher education that have gained whether it’s a medical degree or management degree, they want to augment their economic situation of their families, they want to be enriched in the way that they perceive themselves not just a homemaker but also as a organisation changer. They want to be able to contribute to the industry to the economy. I think this is a very key driving force. It’s driving more women to move in to the industrial segment. It is also encouraging more women to delay key incidents like marriage, child birth and spend more time in the working space as single women."