It’s unpaid work, not unproductive work

The Supreme Court has rightly taken the government to task for clubbing housewives in the same non-productive category as beggars and prostitutes in the census. Its judgment followed from an Allahabad high court verdict that awarded very low compensation to a man whose wife had died in a car accident.

As someone who is not paid wages, the housewife is thus lumped with other non-productive categories. The apex court not only increased the compensation awarded but also commented that the authorities concerned were "insensitive and callous".

The problem stems from the way we view work. In calculating output and GDP, only work that is paid for in money terms is counted. But the GDP derives a lot of hidden value from the efforts of millions of unpaid workers (including homemakers) who are not seen as "productive" in economic terms. While economists are not going to change the definitions anytime soon, society needs to take note of even unpaid work while calculating value delivered.

Women's liberalisation is often mistaken as the right of women to work and vote. However, at a fundamental level, it's about giving women the same rights as men, and that includes the right to choose. If a woman decides that she would rather stay at home and tend to the household and children, that choice must be respected.

Anyone who has attempted to bring up children single-handedly while also doing housework will know that both are tough, backbreaking jobs. It is not for nothing that most men the world over will run several miles rather than swab floors, wash clothes and dishes, cook three meals a day and then help with the homework.

It is also amazing that law enforcers have so far seen no problem in associating housewives, or homemakers as they are known today, in the same category as beggars and prostitutes. In fact, prostitutes, or more correctly, commercial sex workers, are given more respect in some societies than wives and mothers are apparently given in ours.

There has, for some time, been a clamour for quantifying the amount of work done by so-called economically unproductive housewives and then assigning a monetary amount to that. The high court, in this particular case, had calculated compensation at the rate of Rs1,250 a month. In most big cities, that would account for less than an hour's work by a domestic! The apex court has laid down the law: time for the government to take note.