SHOULD HOMEMAKERS BE PAID SALARIES? – WHY AND WHY NOT.

In the December of 2020, the President of Makkal Needhi Maiam, Mr. Kamal Hassan, assured that the housewives will be provided with salaries during their electoral campaign in Tamil Nadu. While the idea was espoused by many, it was also opposed by a significant fraction of society. A similar proposal was raised back in 2012 by the then Minister of Women and Child Development, Krishna Tirath, who put forward the Government mandating pay for housewives from the husbands. However, this idea failed to take shape after.

Should homemakers be paid salaries? The idea has remained a subject of debate for years as a number of questions arise in answering this question. It is often said that the women are the "Queens" of their families but when talking about a nation like India, Indian women do not really own the privilege of reigning over their kingdom. At a major proportion, women in India are pictured to be child-bearing machines entitled to perform domestic work with little or no say in familial matters. The overall problem stems from a lack of women empowerment and a lack of financial independence among women resulting in a higher dependence on the male community. Monetizing the services rendered by the women homemakers in the society might strengthen their power in a household and provide them with a basic income. 70% of the Indian marriages manage to work only because the women settle to live with the abuse and pain inflicted on them silently just for the sake of their children and to have shelter. When stepping into a marriage, one is not aware of what she's signed up for. Such an idea will be a slap on the face of those males who like to possess financial control in their hands. She will hold a little self-reliance on paying her, which will help her opt-out of an unhealthy relationship. This salary that the State pays will benefit her and the entire household as it will lessen the financial crisis faced by the family. It will assist the couple in providing the children with the opportunities that they were deprived of, primarily, proper education.

Given the positive impact such a scheme would create, a remarkable proportion of women might perceive this proposal to be absurd and demeaning to the plethora of activities they carry out selflessly for their families. This entire idea might seem as though their activities solely out of love are being commodified, turning them into business. The freedom to work in India remains to be a struggle for women. Though we have come a long way in women empowerment, there are still miles to travel. Indian societies, like most societies, are largely patriarchal where if a family does not desire their daughter to work, they simply marry her off with the words "if your husband and in-laws allow you to". The crisis arises when the in-laws disagree with her desire to step out to work. While such situations prevail, and if the Government offers to pay them to stay at home, it will promote the behavior of families who stand against a working woman, forcing their daughter-in-law to stay at home to serve them.

Besides, who will pay the homemakers?

One, the husband must pay his wife. In this case, on expecting payment from the husband, it would only add an extra onus on the wife as she might be demanded with more services after being paid. It might cause him to take hold of the ungiven right to supervise her performance, resembling an employer–employee relationship, eventually leading to a situation where the wives will be treated like maids. This will perturb the sanctity of a husband-wife relationship, and the proposal that was initially framed to empower the woman financially would then turn out to be a regressive one making her more dependent than independent.

Two, the State must pay the homemakers. In developing nations like India, when it comes to executing such schemes, the prime question would be - from where will the State derive the money to pay the homemakers, especially when our expenditure exceeds our revenues? The burden will only add up on the salaried class in the label of taxes, mainly income tax. Such an idea will augment the percentage of tax they'll have to pay than the present. On the other hand, if the State is to provide salary to the under-privileged women, there is also a possibility that their abusive husbands may grab hold of the money - in such cases, even when the woman is offered a salary, it does not fall into her pocket.

As much appealing as the idea of paying our homemakers may sound, it also appears to be far from practicality in a nation like ours. Moreover, in this entire discussion we must not set aside the male community. Will the men who remain at home while their wives play the role of the breadwinner also be paid or will the idea also promote that the wives should pay men if they represent the homemaker in the family? Several women-friendly laws have been introduced concerning their safety and security to salvage the ones fallen prey to a highly patriarchal society; however, we must not fail to notice that false cases have been charged on men in many instances. If the scheme is not inclined towards them as well, then their circumstances are to grow worse.

Our objective should not be to promise only basic income for women. It is also crucial to strengthen awareness among women, encourage and assist them in attaining their full potential through quality education, have access to work opportunities, and much more. Moreover, we must stop demanding the wives to do what the husbands can do by themselves or must do for themselves. Household chores are taxing and require tremendous effort and sacrifice. It is thus important to acknowledge the value of unpaid domestic work. Nevertheless, inevitably, there can never be proper remuneration to compensate for it.

This scheme of paying our homemakers might seem absurd to the privileged; it may pave the way for the underprivileged women of our society to walk into something progressive.

-Salma Mohamed Firdouse

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