INDIAN women represent a minority of the working population, with relatively few of them pursuing a career in this traditional country. And those who do are likely to face difficulties getting married, according to a recent international study.
This scientific paper, titled "Women’s Work, Social Norms and the Marriage Market," is based on an experiment the authors conducted on an online marriage platform to determine the preferences of Indian men when it comes to finding a partner.
The experiment involved more than 100,000 households in the country. It revealed that Indian women who have a job or are seeking a job are less desirable than those who are not employed.
In fact, employed women are 14.5% less likely to attract the interest of a suitor than non-working women.
In addition, the researchers found that Indian women in traditionally male occupations face greater discrimination when it comes to finding a prospective partner.
"A woman in a masculine job who prefers to continue to work after marriage is less likely to elicit male interest, relative to a woman in a feminine job who wants to continue working," the researchers write.
These findings show how gender stereotypes persist in a society as conservative and patriarchal as India. Most women stay at home to take care of household chores – domestic work that is not recognized as such – in order to avoid the risk of being looked down upon or viewed as being less 'honorable.'
23% of India's working population
Moreover, women's place in the Indian labour market depends on their social status.
While the study is limited to an online marriage platform whose users have higher levels of education and living standards than the rest of the country's urban population, the researchers believe that the most disadvantaged Indian women are more heavily penalised by the prejudices surrounding working women.
In addition, they found that disadvantaged men are the most critical of women's professionalisation.
"This indicates that the marriage market penalty on working women may be higher in the population (in India) than on the platform itself," the scientists explain.
This penalty facing working women in relationships is certainly a factor holding back many Indian women from the job market. Nearly 20 million Indian women left their jobs between 2004-05 and 2011-12, according to BBC News.
In addition, there has been a sharp decline in the labour force participation rate of women of working age, from 42% in 1993-1994 to 31% in 2011.
This has been greatly exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. After losing their jobs during lockdown, men were eight times more likely to return to work than women, according to the "State of Working India 2021" report.
In fact, the World Bank estimates that women accounted for just 23% of the country's workforce in 2021. Clearly, Indian women need better employment opportunities and a shift in social norms in order to thrive professionally. – ETX Daily Up, March 17, 2023
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