Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science & English Language,

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PEER REVIEWED & REFERRED JOURNAL, APR-MAY, 2020, VOL- 8/39

PROBLEMS OF WORKING WOMEN IN INDIA

Prakash S Ragi, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Davangere University, Davangere
Email: prakashsagarkalaburagi@gmail.com

Abstract

The primary aim of the study is to identify and understand the various problems faced
by working women in India. The study was confined to study different factors responsible for
the problems. Women plays prominent role in the society. It is generally perceived that
gender bias against working women starts right from the stage of recruitment. There are
certainly some common problems, like mental and physical stress, lack of proper balance
between employment and family care, unfair treatment in the workplace, stressful life and
work place discrimination etc. But some challenges are age or category specific, like
prejudiced and stereotyped thinking, safety and security issues, ego hassles with colleagues,
and problem of glass ceiling etc Some probable solutions for problems plaguing working
women that could help them to overcome the problems that they face in the workplace are
proper safety and security measures by the parent organizations, sensitive and supporting
partners at home, effective child care policies and appropriate grievance redressed
mechanisms for women in place at the workplace. An assessment of the problems and issues
plaguing urban working women is therefore a necessity for better understanding of
workplace dynamics related to women.
Key words: Women empowerment, discrimination, employment and education

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INTRODUCTION:
In India, men do not share on most of the household chores, it is women who have to
cook, clean the house, do the dishes, wash clothes, get their children ready for school etc.
Men just took care of few chores that are to be dealt outside the house. So the major burden
of running the family is on the shoulders of women. It was alright for women to handle all the
chores as long as they were homemakers. Now with their increasing need for getting some
income for the family, they have to work all the more harder. They have to take up a 9 to 5

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 Dr. Prakash S Ragi
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job plus handle all the household chores that they handled as a homemaker. Men‟s role has
not changed much.
The status of Indian women has undergone considerable change. Though Indian
women are far more independent and aware of their legal rights, such as right to work, equal
treatment, property and maintenance, a majority of women remain unaware of these rights.
There are other factors that affect their quality of life such as age of marriage, extent of
literacy, role in the family and so on. In many families, women do not have a voice in
anything while in several families; the women may have a dominating role. The result is that
the empowerment of women in India is highly unbalanced and with huge gaps. Those who
are economically independent and literate live the kind of life that other women tend to envy
about. This disparity is also a cause for worry because balanced development is not taking
place.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
1. To identify the status of working women in India.
2. To examine the problems faced by working women in India.
3. To recognize the role of women in the society
4. To review different studies related to issues and concerns & stress about working
women
REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
1. Hate (1978) in her book stated that there is positive change in the political, economics
and social status of middle class working and non-working women living in four
cities in Maharashtra with the advent of independence.
2. Robinson and Skarie (1980) in their article on stress of working women stated that in
the area of stress and its relationship to locus control reveals that internally oriented
individuals show less perception of role overload and role ambiguity
3. Chandrika (1982) in her study stated that in the last decade of the 20th century the
spotlight fell on various specific issues of women, these include multiple feminine
identity, gender and sexuality, feminization of poverty environment and sustainable
development, planning and power globalization, sex tourism, sexual harassment at
work place, Dalit women‟s issues, tribal women and minority women‟s problem,
women‟s rights as human rights, communal fascism, women and media. These
yielded truly in depth analysis, studies and discussions and action programmers.

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 Dr. Prakash S Ragi
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4. Seta Vaidayalingam (1994) discussed the problem and concerns of Indian women.
According to working women are subject to more explanative problems and pressures
then their non- working sisters. Finding a suitable occupation in the first problem right
and proceeds it and of course fighting for the right amount of education to secure a
decent job, tops it all, after having completed her education when a women steps the
field of vocation are not quite correct, we find to be women‟s staying capacity and the
usual remarks is adequate. This kind of attitude spoils a women‟s changes at all levels
and particularly in the field of self -employment with a job come other problematic
situations, kinds of people at work especially men. Number of lawyers do not
encourage women simply because the later to level the office at about 6 p.m. in order
to reach home early despite the fact that a busy lawyer‟s office is at its best after 6
p.m. Single working women have the accommodation problem, if working in a city
their families do not live with them. One has heard and read in the newspaper of the
unfavorable conditions prevailing in hostels which in any case among to meet
encouraged to need. My own mother has never done a day‟s work despite having
secured a medical education from the Madras Medical College.
DATA ANALYSIS:
The status of working Indian women has been shown in Table 1 during the recent past
of post independence period. From 1971-2001 the overall work participation rate for women
has gone from 34.3 percent to 39.26 percent, just a marginal increase of 5 per cent over a
long period of three decades. Ideal share in work participation of women should have been
equal to sex ratio of women in the total population of the country. We are far away from this
ideal even after 75 years of independence. Work participation in higher administrative posts
is miserably low. Though there has been a cry for equal political participation for women in
political decision making, barring a single exception of Women‟s‟ participation in Local Self
Government bodies, the rate of women‟s participation in state assemblies has hardly increase
by .0.5 percent over the period of 15 years from 1985 to 2000 whereas the participation in
MPs in Parliament has increase just by 4 per cent over a period of 20 years from 6.1 per cent
to 10.1 per cent. Shall we be able to bring gender equality in near future? How long we
should wait for bringing gender equality in real terms.

Copyright © 2020, Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science & English Language
 Dr. Prakash S Ragi
(Pg. 10085-10091) 10088

PROBLEMS OF WORKING WOMEN:

1) Acceptance As Working Professionals:
Most Indian men are yet to come to terms with the fact that women are also capable of
working with them, shoulder to shoulder, in any field or professional sphere. They still
visualize women as individuals who should be in charge of the kitchen and other domestic
affairs. Work is either seen as a temporary evil for women whose husbands do not earn
enough, or the domain of women who do not “know their place.” As a result, Indian working
women do not get the respect they require from their male colleagues in the workplace.
2) Balancing Work-Family Life:
No matter how high their position or designation is in the office, women in India are still
viewed as the family manager back home. They are expected to return home at a certain time,
cook, clean and take care of family affairs.
In fact, men who help out around their house are often the butt of jokes by their male
friends. This makes life extremely stressful for women who have little help around the house
and have to do it all.
3) Travelling For Work is Not Acceptable:
One of the problems faced by married working women is that they cannot travel or go on
tours without having to answer uncomfortable questions by most of their friends and family.
This is especially true for married women, who also have a flourishing career. Their
professional obligations often depend on the support and understanding of family members.
4) Safety Of Working Women:
The “nosey questions factor” aside, there is still the concern for safety of working women
who need to travel on official business. Women travelling out of their home city for work
trips are considered vulnerable and an easy target to fulfill the lewd intentions of their
chauvinist male colleagues. Checking into a hotel alone is one of the problems faced by
working women, even if the trip is purely official. Many hotels refuse to allot a room to a
single woman (under strange pretexts) because of their own safety concerns or if a woman
decides to stay alone, she is viewed with suspicion.
5) Unequal Pay:
One of the raging topics of discussion in the context of problems faced by working women
(not only in India, but also in many other nations) is that of equal pay. Legally, a woman is
entitled to get the same salary as their male colleagues for the same kind of work done by

Copyright © 2020, Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science & English Language
 Dr. Prakash S Ragi
(Pg. 10085-10091) 10089

them. However, gender discrimination is rampant as many companies still do not adhere to
these guidelines and pay women less than their male colleagues.
6) Education:
Though it is gradually rising, the female literacy rate in India is lower than the male literacy
rate. Compared to boys, far fewer girls are enrolled in the schools, and many of them drop
out. According to the National Sample Survey Data of 1997, only the states of Kerala and
Mizoram have approached universal female literacy rates. According to majority of the
scholars, the major factor behind the improved social and economic status of women in
Kerala is literacy. Under Non-Formal Education programme (NFE), about 40 Per cent of the
centers in states and 10 Per cent of the centers in UTs are exclusively reserved for females.
As of 2000, about 0.3 million NFE centers were catering to about 7.42 million children, out
of which about 0.12 million were exclusively for girls. In urban India, girls are nearly at par
with the boys in terms of education. However, in rural India girls continue to be less educated
than the boys.
7) Discrimination at Workplace:
However, Indian women still face blatant discrimination at their workplaces. A major
problem faced by the working women is sexual harassment at the work place. Further,
women employees working in night shift are more vulnerable to such incidents. Nurses, for
example, face this problem nearly every day. There is nothing that is done in hospitals to
tackle and address the danger they face. Such blatant disregard of current Indian laws is one
reason why sexual harassment at the workplace continues to increase.
8) Land and property rights:
In most Indian families, women do not own any property in their own names, and do not get a
share of parental property. Due to weak enforcement of laws protecting them, women
continue to have little access to land and property. In fact, some of the laws discriminate
against women, when it comes to land and property rights. In 1986, the Supreme Court of
India ruled that Shah Bano, an old divorced Muslim woman was eligible for maintenance
money. However, the decision was vociferously opposed by fundamentalist Muslim leaders,
who alleged that the court was interfering in their personal law. The Union Government
subsequently passed the Muslim Women‟s (Protection of Rights upon Divorce) Act.
Similarly, the Christian women have struggled over years for equal rights of divorce and
succession. In 1994, all the churches, jointly with women‟s organizations, drew up a draft law

Copyright © 2020, Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science & English Language
 Dr. Prakash S Ragi
(Pg. 10085-10091) 10090

called the Christian Marriage and Matrimonial Causes Bill. However, the government has
still not amended the relevant laws.
9) Crimes against women:
Police records show high incidence of crimes against women in India. The National Crime
Records Bureau reported in 1998 that the growth rate of crimes against women would be
higher than the population growth rate by 2010.Earlier; many cases were not registered with
the police due to the social stigma attached to rape and molestation cases. Official statistics
show that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of reported crimes against
women.
10) Domestic Violence:
Globally, one out of every three women faces violence at the hands of their husbands,
Fathers, or brothers and uncles in their homes. Domestic violence can be described as when
one adult in a relationship misuses power to control another through violence and other forms
of abuse. The abuser tortures and controls the victim by calculated threats, intimidation and
physical violence. Although men, women and children can be abused, in most cases the
victims are women. In every country where reliable, large-scale studies have been conducted,
results indicate that between 16 and 52 Per cent of women have been assaulted by their
husbands/partners. These studies also indicate widespread violence against women as an
important cause of morbidity and mortality. Such violence may also include rape and sexual
abuse. Psychological Status of Women in India: Problems and concerns 25violence includes
verbal abuse, harassment, confinement and deprivation of physical, financial and personal
resources. For some women emotional abuse may be more painful than physical attacks
because they effectively undermine women‟s security and self-confidence. In India, violence
within the home is universal across culture, religion, class and ethnicity. The abuse is
generally condoned by social custom and considered a part and parcel of marital life.
Statistics reveal a grim picture of domestic violence in India. The National Crimes Bureau,
Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India reports a shocking 71.5 Per cent increase in
instances of torture and dowry deaths during the period from 1991 to 1995.
CONCLUSION:
Thus, while discussing the issues and concerns about working women, the main
emphasis should be on the „opportunities for women‟, as it is of utmost importance. Like
every human being, a woman has a „natural desire for the expression of her inborn knack and

Copyright © 2020, Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science & English Language
 Dr. Prakash S Ragi
(Pg. 10085-10091) 10091

abilities‟; even a small baby shows his natural guts through his actions and movements. So, if
a woman learns something, she craves for expressing it in some way. It is quite encouraging
that nowadays, women have much more opportunities and prospects for the assertion of their
individuality and talents. The services sector has increased the chances for women with its
comfortable environment, where they can actively participate and excel, even from a distant
place. Hence, if the focus is right, this issue will hopefully find its way towards a positive
solution.
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Aditi M (1997).feminist organizing in India, a study of women in NGOs, Aditi-
MitraFeminist-Organizing-In-India-A-Study-Of-Women-In-Ngos.
Kumari,V (2014).Problems and Challenges Faced by Urban Worming Women in India. A
Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Kumar, P. & Sundar, K. (2012). Problems Faced by Women Executives Working in Public
Sector Banks in Puducherry, International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services
& Management Research.1(7), PP 180-193.
Karl, M. (2009).Inseparable: The Crucial Role of Women in Food Security Revisited.
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Murthy, G. K. (2012).Women and Corporate Leadership- in Indian Perspectives.IRACST-
International Journal of Research in Management & Technology.2(4) PP 377-382.
Rustagi,P (2010) Employment trend for women in India. International labor organization
Asia Pacific working paper series.(1), PP 1-40.

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