Working Women from Home

I was discussing with my professor the other day how many tasks she had because she was working from home. I remember seeing another professor on video call struggling to take a lecture and keep her child entertained and quiet. And so we discussed what it meant to be a woman working from home.

The society at present, particularly in India, is centred around women taking up housework and managing the houses - which for some absurd reason is not seen as work. Yes, there are liberated women, who make the choices to become full-time homemakers, but that is a privilege. Let's not think it is not - the choice of it allows these women to regain their respect of doing household chores as work. Most women, however, do not have this privilege and have had to rely on the superwomen of India - the domestic help and maids. Even the maids or domestic help might be people who manage multiple houses, while not being recognised for the work they do at their own homes.

As we enter a new normal mode of working it creates an extremely difficult situation for women, particularly women who are answerable to businesses or have jobs outside of the house and have to also do the cooking or cleaning, etc. If you add a child to this equation, the woman also has to look after the needs of the child and making sure that their work as mothers allows the child to feel comfortable being confined to the house; all of these without compromising on her earnings and livelihood or a job. 

With the current Corona Virus Crisis and Lockdown and Quarantine restrictions, this system poses several challenges to a woman. There is no possibility of stepping out of the house and it becomes increasingly difficult to do a job/work from home while doing the housework and managing the members of the family and their needs.

The new normal that is being proposed would hopefully take this into account, that multitasking and segregating time for the job (irrespective of whether it is from home or while going to the workspace). It is a complex issue that requires real action based on the opinions of the people being affected.

I am going to list down a few possible solutions I have thought of so far, and these may not be valid, seeing as I am not a woman, they are based on my understanding of what the new normal could be. I do not in any way wish for this to be cited as an excuse to remove women from the workforce because that is their choice - and can not be decided by anyone apart from the individual woman in this regard.

1. More division of housework - Dividing housework between all the members of the family or residents of the home is possibly the only step towards creating a comfortable house environment, this, of course, would also gradually increase the amount of respectability of doing housework.  Personally, I believe and hope that sharing work at home will be the only way forward for everyone. Hopefully, as we eventually come out of this pandemic, we are able to retain this division of labour. 

So essentially, goodbye traditional gender roles and hello to happier healthier lives.

2. Segregation of responsibilities - I am reminded of a very interesting quote by the Union Minister, Smriti Irani, pointing out how in the moment of her child's Class 12 exams "she is just a gloating Mom" and not the Union Minister. It is these moments that allowed me to think about whether women have to juggle roles of being supportive mothers, workers and also support systems. This, I would say would be possible for all the people and women who live alone or live with flatmates, etc. Dividing time when they do professional work and when they do housework. This requires a lot of discipline and routine, but I think is the only possible way to allow optimal survival. Over time, I also think this will allow for emotional segregation and mental stability, where stress from a job does not hinder work at home.

You can also read this article by the Indian Express.


3. Corporate Leaves and Payments -  It might be a privilege to have domestic help at home, but such a job role being practised by women is very common in Developing and Underdeveloped nations and places. What the Corona Virus Pandemic needs to bring about is unionisation of domestic help to ensure safety and better pay - particularly in countries like India. More importantly, it is equally important to provide employees with paid leaves to upkeep and maintain their house and household chores.

4. Talk about this - I would encourage each person to participate and take responsibility for their homes, but also talk about how much of extra work such a situation can be - particularly for a woman.

Let's support and participate and not make it a woman's responsibility to work from home and do housework. Let us Share The Load.