The Supreme Court recently issued a directive to the state of Himachal Pradesh in response to the case of Shalini Dharmani vs. The State of Himachal Pradesh. This directive has sharply turned the spotlight towards the disproportionate childcare burden shouldered by women, urging Indian policymakers to take decisive steps towards enhancing childcare infrastructure and bolstering support for working mothers.

The court mandated a comprehensive reassessment of child care leave policies and support for mothers of children with special needs. This directive underlines the critical need to uphold the rights of working mothers, facilitating their participation in the workforce, and addressing the broader spectrum of childcare needs.

The discussion around childcare has gained momentum globally in recent years, including in India, where awareness on the fact that working women bear the lion’s share of childcare responsibilities has grown.

Balancing Acts: A Unique Challenge

A recurring question from moms is, “Who’s going to take care of the kids? And the sick? And the elderly?”

Dad’s favorite answer is, “That’s your job, you lucky girl.”

The above quote is from Nancy Folbre’s Who Pays for the Child, published as early as 1999. She argued that this answer was unfair but partly functional. Fathers willingly support the family as they expect pecuniary benefits and mothers’ choices were restricted.

However, even after more than two decades, the answer largely remains the same globally, with fathers typically engaged in paid work to provide economic means for the family while mothers are mostly engaged in family labour.

Recent Periodic Labour Force Data (PLFS) for 2022-23 shows an increase in female participation, although most of the rise is from unpaid family members. Figure 1 (below) indicates that while 99% of fathers are engaged in the labour market in both urban and rural areas, only 41% of mothers participate, with rates of 45% in rural areas and 28% in urban areas.

The notion of motherhood is shaped by biological determinism and social expectations around women’s role which automatically translates into decisions that affect their career trajectories. Women’s bodies are intricately connected to the continuation of the human species, and their biological functions often place them in social roles that are deemed to be of lower status in society. These social roles, influenced by their bodies and functions, give women a different psychological nature. Further, the coincidence of the reproductive/ fertile years for childbirth and the critical years for career growth in the labour market is yet another conflict that particularly women face (Figure 2).

Therefore, for working mothers, it is more difficult to remain in the labour market to meet the societal demand around motherhood as the entire idea of womanhood is collapsed into motherhood.

This conflict of work and childcare for mothers compels them to remain out of the labour market. It is indicated in their responses when asked about the reason for their non-participation and being out of the labour force in the Periodic Labour Force Survey (2022-23). 43.4% of mothers reported childcare as the primary reason for their non-participation in the labour market in the last year while 38.4% mothers cited household responsibilities as the main reason. In contrast, for fathers, health related reason and end of contract were the primary reason for non-participation in the last 365 days preceding the date of PLFS (2022-23) (Figure 2). Additionally, when asked about the reason for being out of the labour force, 93% of mothers echoed childcare and personal commitments in homemaking while again the primary reason for males was health related.

Figure 1

Source: Authors’ calculations from PLFS (2022-23) unit level data.

Figure 2

Source: Authors’ calculations from PLFS (2022-23) unit level data.

Figure 3

Source: Authors’ calculations from PLFS (2022-23) unit level data.

Figure 4

Source: Authors’ calculations from PLFS (2022-23) unit level data.

Stress and guilt

The gender gap in unpaid care work is most pronounced when the father continues to be employed while the mother is not. In such households, women shoulder the bulk of caregiving, often sacrificing their professional aspirations.

However, unit level analysis of India’s Time Use Survey (2019) data shows that even working mothers on average daily spend around 87 minutes, 3.8 times more time on childcare activities compared to men (23 minutes) for children aged 14 years and below. In India, co-residence with elders (mothers/ mother-in-laws) is the second most common alternative arrangement for childcare after parental care (Figure 5).

We find that the average daily time spent by grandmothers is 56 minutes, compared to 21 minutes by grandfathers. This is typically explained by the higher affective element of females towards children and their ‘nature to nurture’ compared to men. However, economist Jayati Ghosh, in her Feminist Economics series, refutes this assertion by emphasising that the only difference between men and women is that women can give birth and breastfeed; all other tasks should be shared.

Figure 5

Source: Authors’ calculations from TUS (2019) unit level data.

However the perceptions around motherhood are not changing as rapidly as one would expect. According to World Value Survey (2017-2022), around 34.5% agreed strongly and 37.4% agreed to the opinion that pre-school children suffer due to working mothers (Figure 6). This common view of mothers being responsible for the holistic development of the child naturally creates mounting social pressure on women, often finding themselves trapped in ‘mommy guilt’ for not doing enough. Working mothers encounter heightened levels of maternal guilt, as they navigate the complex balance between their professional responsibilities, household duties, and the nurturing and education of their children.

Figure 6

Source: Authors’ calculations from TUS (2019) unit level data.

Lower average daily time spent by working mothers on self-care, socialising, religious practices, leisure, and personal care and maintenance, as revealed through Indian time use data analysis (2019), can be attributed to mommy guilt and social norms. Figure 7 shows that working mothers spend much less time on self-care, socialising and religious practices, leisure, and personal care and maintenance than men. On average, working mothers spend 96 minutes on socialising and spiritual activities, 79 minutes on leisure activities such as watching TV, relaxing, exercising, and participating in cultural activities, and only 663 minutes on personal care and maintenance, including sleeping, eating, and personal hygiene.

In contrast, men spend 133 minutes on socialising and religious activities, 99 minutes on leisure, and 703 minutes on personal care and maintenance, thus highlighting the need to redistribute childcare tasks and emphasise alternative childcare arrangements.

Figure 7

Source: Authors’ calculations from TUS (2019) unit level data.

Many argue that mothers unquestionably perform tasks like preparing the kids for school or maintaining the household out of interest and not coercion. However, the line between coercion and interests remains blurred. Women may find themselves embracing these tasks, influenced by deep-seated gender roles that suggest such responsibilities are inherently theirs.

It is widely acknowledged that parental involvement in the formative years of a child’s life is a cornerstone in shaping their social, psychological, and educational trajectory.

However, there is a there is a need to reframe the conversation and present childcare as a ‘public good’ rather than a ‘nice to have’. Both mothers and fathers should share the responsibility of childcare. Despite the Maternity Benefit Act of 2017 requiring employers to provide childcare facilities, many organisations still lack functional daycare centers, often citing a lack of demand. It is essential for employers to proactively offer these services and provide information to potential employees, allowing them to make informed decisions about their employment.

Taking a career break due to motherhood has become normalised, and this normalisation should also extend to fathers taking paternity leave. There is a clear need for paternity benefits to incentivise fathers to take advantage of this opportunity.

By reimagining childcare as a shared responsibility, we can foster more inclusive and supportive environments that acknowledge the unseen labour of mothers. This approach not only boosts the productivity and financial well-being of mothers but also contributes to the broader social good. It’s time for fresh, constructive dialogue on childcare and working parents’ needs, recognising its critical role in sustaining the fabric of our communities. Childcare is a collective responsibility that transcends the boundary of the family wherein the state is also envisioned as an entity that ensures childcare support as a child’s and working parents’ right. Indeed, it takes a village to raise a child and not just their mothers.

(T.S. Kavita Rajeshwari is PhD Scholar, O.P. Jindal Global University. Dr. Avanindra Nath Thakur is Professor, O.P. Jindal Global University. Dr. Indrani Sengupta is Assistant Professor, Shiv Nadar University. Courtesy: The Wire, an Indian nonprofit news and opinion website. It was founded in 2015 by Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia, and M. K. Venu.)