Fascinating data came in from the fifth National Family Health Survey across more than 6.37 lakh households. Our Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined and is now at 2.0 vs the Replacement level of 2.1. This change has happened in the last five years. In urban areas, the TFR is 1.6.
If this trend were to stabilise or accelerate, in plain speak we would see a working-age population reduction after 20 years.
Shockingly, in the same five years, 20 million women have disappeared from the workforce. Some have quit and others have stopped looking for work.
Our economy has always relied on consumption expenditure to drive growth. Simply put, we need more young people working, and more people earning and spending to grow both the consumption and investment parts of our economy. With a reduction in the young workforce in 20 years, we will find it shockingly hard to sustain meaningful growth for a country of our size.
The RBI recently released data and a provocative statement, that India’s economy would recover from COVID-related losses by 2034-35 if we grew at 7.5 per cent over the next decade.
There’s no path to a decade-plus of growth without women joining the workforce.
We have made some good strides in the areas of health and education enrolment from primary to tertiary levels for girls but it simply doesn’t translate into employment.
We are now witnessing the sharpest decline in women’s participation at work. Twenty million women just quit in the last five years, this is the ‘greatest resignation’ and sadly it doesn’t stem from an exalted search for work-life balance or purpose.
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Surely, the working conditions or cultural factors and even the extent of domestic unpaid work by women have not worsened so materially over the last five years. But it’s clear now that we are in a vicious cycle.
Unsurprisingly with fewer women left at the workplace, fewer still get promoted, and even fewer get recruited. We’re just disappearing.
Seeing is believing, if we aren’t going to be seen, the next generation of women entering the workforce will pay a heavy price. We need a sisterhood that normalises working women in all shades and colours. Less dialogue about Mother’s Day and Women’s Day and swift action on a blueprint for bringing women to the workplace based on our shared experiences.
These are five recurring themes based on my shared experiences with other working women which have helped us along the way.
1. Build a diverse sisterhood: Someone will be in the C-suite, someone else may have chosen to switch to writing and another may be running a home bakery. You will probably need to lean into their experiences based on your life and professional stage.
2. Have authentic conversations: Before I had my daughter, my boss sat me down and had a detailed discussion about how I was setting up support for the child when I was going to resume work. It was an intense conversation but one that prepared me better.
3. Break the bias early: Our curriculum simply doesn’t do enough to challenge stereotypes or even progressively talk about gender. The foundational and primary years are a great time to break any biases. You may not be in a position to change the textbooks or curriculum but use your free time and weekends challenging these mindsets. From gender-positive language to diverse visual representation to role modeling in the home, there is enough we can do to raise brave girls and aware boys.
Kids benefit from having a working mom. Research has shown that girls who grow up with a working mom have higher income levels and boys grow up with better attitudes towards gender and home chores. If you are a working mom, you aren’t only increasing the income level in your home, you are raising better kids.
4. Be a mentor: You may feel it’s too early but you have many years of wisdom to help someone making choices. Whether they are choosing graduation streams or deciding between job offers or trying for a department change, you’ve been there already and can help.
The last point is not in your control but the ‘mummy penalty’ needs to be addressed. Perhaps we begin by acknowledging it and as senior women, we need to build dialogue around it.
5. Mitigate the mummy penalty: The added financial burden of six months of paid maternity leave has created disincentives for employers to hire and promote women. If this cannot be part-funded by the government, it should be equally split between men and women. If you are reading this and thinking how crazy this idea is, several European countries have had versions of this policy for over a decade. By mandating six months of paid leave unfunded by the government, we’ve simply introduced a mummy penalty; well-intentioned as it may be, it isn’t working out.
A request to the other women at work or once at work, I encourage you to be heard and seen. Sign up to be a mentor, talk at a panel, and answer a request on LinkedIn. Share your experiences and moments of truth along your journey. Your sisterhood needs you today.
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Simran Khara is a startup founder. She is an alumnus of ISB, Hyderabad, London School of Economics (UK) and Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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