Eleventh Global Studies Conference

Abstract

The status of women has experienced great changes over the past century in India. Today, women may attain equal status in society and become prominent in every field, including politics, medicine, education or military, etc. That said, there are loopholes which are often unobserved or unrecognized in society such as the unequal division of household work. Jain (1982) highlighted the role of women” as a productive contributor in the proper functioning of an economy” several decades ago. Jayati Ghosh (2016) mentioned “Women have been a part of working class since the beginning of capitalism, even then they have not been widely acknowledged as workers in their own rights”. Bianchi has also mentioned and underlined the role of women in the society and the increasing inequality in the division of household work. Women in India are well recognised in every field, but still have to bear a double burden. They have to work outside to support the family and also have to juggle with the household work such as cooking, laundry, taking care of sick ones, children or elderly.Women have to play several roles. This process also changes the way in which they are perceived in society in the workplace. Household work, which is unpaid remains unrecognised yet considered a compulsory responsibility to be performed by female member of a family. In this study, I highlight the roles of women in Indian society and the loopholes. Why is there still unequal division of household work in India? Many feminist economist have conducted studies in this area, but few research studies for India are available.