Underscoring the centrality of the provision of child care leave (CCL) to women’s participation in the workforce, the Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and J B Pardiwala delivered a judgment that has significant implications for female employment in the country. The Court was hearing a plea by an assistant professor in a government college in Himachal Pradesh who had been denied CCL – introduced by the sixth CPC for central government employees in 2008 — to tend to her child suffering from a rare genetic disorder because the state government has no such provision and she had exhausted her leave quota.
The SC has asked the state chief secretary to form a committee to initiate policy changes and noted, “Participation of women in the workforce is a matter not just of privilege but a constitutional entitlement protected by Article 15. The state as a model employer cannot be oblivious to the special concerns which arise in the case of women who are part of the workforce.”
The Periodic Labour Force Survey Report 2022-23 shows that the female labour force participation rate jumped to 37 per cent, a significant increase of 4.2 percentage points compared to the previous year. Yet, in a country that hopes to capitalise on its “nari shakti”, there are not enough provisions to ensure that this passage is smooth.
It is no secret that women, whether employed or otherwise, carry a disproportionate burden of care responsibilities at home and outside of it. According to a study undertaken by Karmannaya Counsel, CII and Nikore Associates in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Child Development and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to address the lacuna in the system, women in India perform over eight times the amount of unpaid work, valued at 15 per cent to 17 per cent of GDP notionally. Motherhood is exacting, but so is housekeeping and elderly care, demanding, necessarily, the ability to be everything everywhere all at once. It often means that women drop out of the workforce mid-career or take a hit in their professional growth.
While progressive legislation is essential to plug the gaps, other aspects need to be addressed as well. By 2050, the share of senior citizens in India is expected to rise to 20.8 per cent of the population. Investing in infrastructure that will ensure ease of access to affordable and specialised child and elder care is crucial to meet the challenges. There is also the important task of fostering a gender-neutral approach to care work, including and not limited to child care, that is integral to dismantling stereotypes and taking into account the changing nature of families. The extension of CCL to all employees, irrespective of gender, would be a step forward.
