The word housewife defined in the Oxford dictionary says ‘A married woman, whose main occupation is caring for her family, managing household affairs, and doing housework.' Nonetheless, the recent data published by National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) says that around 64% women are engaged in domestic work compared to 60% in rural areas among women aged 15. The number of housewives in urban areas is increasing that is because of the growing nuclear families having no extra family members to share the domestic chores, unlike in rural areas where the families are more joint or extended types. The topic draws attention towards, whether the housewives contribution in our Indian society been recognized or not.
Many of us in our daily lives say ‘we don’t want to be a housewife. It will make our entire life horrible’. The matter of fact is that we have least tried to understand the significance of a housewife or tried to recognize her contribution. The biggest misapprehension that many of us carry within us is the person’s monetary contribution to the society has more meaning than the non-monetary contributors. The housewife may not be drawing the salary or may not be having to fix working hours or working policy, but her valuable contribution cannot be overlooked. A woman as a housewife has a significant role to play for a stable society and has meaningful participation in the development process. The unending hours of work a housewife does have less valued by her own family members, the amount of pain she takes to nurture her child are less appreciated by her own husband and in-laws. In reality, she does multiple tasks from cooking to taking care of her husband office tasks without expecting any kind of reward. She supports all family members with immense tolerance, patience, and sense of responsibility.
Let me highlight the consequences of what the housewives go through when their contribution remains unrecognized in the family and society. My mother who is a housewife and been taking care of four daughters all her life to sacrifice all her dreams. After her marriage, she wanted to continue education in law and wanted to learn singing but her commitment to the family and nurturing four children lead her to sacrifice her dreams. She tried her best to give the world of love and care to all the four daughters and her husband. Her entire life went fulfilling her daughter dreams by sacrificing her own aspirations. She not only tried to see her dreams through her daughters but managed well to make it happen. Her unending support remains unrecognized by her in-laws for which time and again they raise a finger on her by saying ‘why educating so much to the girl child which will later be a problem for them to find the right match for marriage.’ This has never stopped her dreaming and sacrificing for her children.
Another example of my friend madhusmita (name changed) who is a housewife and married for last 10 years she has an 8years old daughter. When she first married and came to this family she not only brought valuable gifts for the entire family but she brought along with herself smile to all faces, hope, dreams, and responsibility. Gradually with her presence, the family start celebrating each and every occasion, she took care of everyone needs and tried her best to understand each and every family members. Time and again she failed because her contribution was not recognized and her effort was not appreciated by her in-laws. The unending love and affection for the entire family never stopped her to sacrifice her own health and go beyond her personal capacity to help the family members. Today when she tries to look back and see the entire journey of 10 years her heart ponder with tears. She still says to herself ‘I can, because my love for the family is priceless.'
There is a saying, every relationship is balanced if it’s a give and takes, the person rises with positivity if he/she take along of what he/she gives. The point here that I want to make is that the case of Madhusmita is found in almost all Indian houses. Their sacrifice for the well being of the family need appreciation and recognition she gives herself best to all, but in return, she hardly gets anything back that makes her feel emotionally down and weak at times.
Let me now give you some facts and figure of the value of the amount that would cover the housewife work. According to the United Nations, the unpaid work done by women globally is estimated at USD 11 trillion a year. Globally, women own 1 percent of property overall and possess less than 5 percent of the world’s income. Yet women do a disproportionately high percentage of the work when also accounting for domestic work.
India has not left behind in counting the contribution of the housewives, according to the Supreme Court of India has upheld the economic role of a housewife. It is possible to apply opportunity cost in valuing a housewife’s services. For instance, the monetary value of cooking for family members could be assessed regarding what it would cost to hire a cook or to purchase ready cooked food, or by determining how much money could be earned if the food cooked for the family were to be sold in the locality. Alternatively, the time taken for housewives to produce these services could be compared with the time that is taken to produce goods and services that are commercially viable. This is because the non-financial benefits of housewives are the time spent in attending to children, family members, and the emotional-quotient, of traditional parenting and so on, which cannot be precisely measured.
According to experts, the effective way might be to recognize the contribution of housewives makes to the economy. "It's not about being paid," noting that the economic value housewives create remains within their home, "it's about being valued." If ever there was a time to include unpaid housework in GDP figures, it is now, they say. Working mothers have a stake in this, too: They still do most of the unpaid work in their homes. While society recognizes their role in the conventional economy, housewife stands hidden and unacknowledged in what is termed by Elson as the ‘Economy of Care.'
The society now going towards modernization but no one really tries to read the diary of a housewife. They are the one who works more without any pay and recognition. It is high time the society should remove the norms they have created for the housewife as ‘unproductive consumers' of the family. The family should understand her needs when she takes care of others need, she should also be appreciated for her effective contribution in positive ways, her presence should be recognized in the family as a sound decision maker.
