Importance Of Economic Inclusion Of Women

“Economic equity is enormous empowerment of women. Having jobs that provide income means that women can be a more effective force, a more equal force, in the political process. Women with income take themselves more seriously and they are taken more seriously”.

- Betty Friedan

Economic inclusion is a process of improving the terms of participation in the economy for people who are disadvantaged on the basis of age, sex, disability, race, religion, ethnicity, and other status through opportunities and access to resources.

It’s well versed that Gender Equality and diversity in workforce boasts productivity, which further leads to the economic growth of the country.But economic inclusion is not considered as a women’s forte.

Women’s choices are suppressed and countless constraints are imposed on their participation in the economy which results in their economic exclusion.

Women’s participation in the economy

Globally, women’s labor force participation is 49% compared to 76 % for men, which calls for refinement in economic and social dimensions of each country to remove generalization as all countries suffer some loss of human development due to gender inequality.

According to data from the International Labour Organisation, “ India’s female labor force participation rate is among the lowest in the world, at 27% and has declined significantly over the two decades.

*( India's workforce participation rate )

Stumbling Blocks -

1.Social Norms

Patriarchy plays a vital role in depriving women of their equal economic rights.

Women in India are traditionally taught to be financially dependent,

Independence acts as a threat to male dominance.

Restrictions are imposed on the at the early stage of education only.

Which ultimately leads to no professional or job-based skills.

Women eventually loses the enthusiasm for participating in the workforce.

2.Gender wage gap

“Women earn 62% of what their male colleagues earn for the same task”.

-Catalyst

this discrimination discourages women to participate in the economic activities.

The gender wage gap causes a sense of lacking skills.

As women have to struggle between paid work and unpaid work ( family chores )

Wage gap disparity does not award them with the deserving award.

Because of which they are often forced to make a choice between workforce participation and unpaid work.

3. Poverty and illiteracy

Poverty plays a huge role in economic inclusion.

Poverty at first stage snatches the educational rights from women, because of which they are unable to fulfill even basicjob requirements in future. Only 65.46% are provided with basic education in India.

Poverty also forces women to do work which offers merely food only enough to stay alive. This kind of employment is not a fair inclusion of women in economy, instead it takes a toll on their health.

Illiteracy leads to economic inclusion as well as social inclusion, which consequently widens the length and breadth of gender discrimination

Economic Inclusion of women Leads to Social Inclusion

Empowering women economically ensures social progress and mobility.

Equally footing with men in the economy helps women in practicing their social rights too.

Women who practice their right in the economy regardless of their caste, family background, religion, race, and other aspects are financially independent and do not depend on someone else for their survival, this independence drives acknowledgment of freedom to exploit further opportunities and develop personally while contributing to the sustainable development of the country.

Said by Betty Friedan,

Women with income take themselves more seriously and they are taken more seriously”.

Economic Inclusion gives access to resources, enhancing opportunities, voice, and respect for the rights to women who are generally intersected with different forms of socio-economic inequality.

Social inclusion for development is a key

Participation of women in the labor force also promotes employment of more women at different hierarchical levels of the company/organization, As the participation of women in the workforce increases, they work more productively and unpaid work like child care and household chores are divided which slaughters the gender roles prevailing in the society.

Why social inclusion is mandatory?

Social Inclusion is a key element for the development of a country. As social integration breaks the of myopic vision of ALL-MALE society. It's evident that financial independence removes the restriction of following gender norms. But still, India lags in integrating women in social and economic activities.

Labour workforce participation role for women in 2017 was 28.5%compared to 82% for men. A survey suggests that Increasing women's labor force participation by 10 percentage points can add $700 billion to India's GDP by 2015.

This economic inclusion can make a huge impact on gender pay gap and social equality.

In 2011, out of the 11.7 million working women ( in urban areas) only 43% were given regular wages and salary.

This leads to partial integration instead of a complete integration.

Women constitute of 48.5% of the population of India , it makes social Inclusion pivotal for a developed society.

Absolute Social inclusion would accelerate the practice and awareness of women's rights and would also help to eradicate barriers like illiteracy, gender discrimination and more.

Social inclusion holds the capacity of bringing huge change in the country and its position across the world.

Even Cargo - working for Economic Inclusion of women

Even cargo scales up innovation and uses the power of spreading awareness and training to achieve women's Equal rights in the economy.

Even cargo works towards the growth of women in the labor force by training women who do not practice their right to economic inclusion.

BeingIndia's first women-only delivery personnel service, Even cargo trains women in dimensions to attain their socio-economic rights.

Women who are employed as delivery girls at Even Cargo are trained in riding two-wheelers by Honda and are also given training in self-defense and soft skills. Not only this, but Even Cargo also helps women in developing relevant skills required for them to work in the logistics sector Through a logistic specific training.

Negative social norms and economic barriers that prevent women from fully exploiting their potential are eradicated by Even Cargo.

Women who are involved in this process and work at Even cargo have seen a 100% increase in their annual household income which not only benefits their (women's) position in society but also contributes to the sustainable development of the economy.

The contribution of Even Cargo also brings attention to the need for social inclusion of women through making them self - supporting.

Even cargo works on the barriers like illiteracy, poverty, and the gender wage gap and is also fighting against social norms as they all emerges as a major reason for economic exclusion

Government for women's economic empowerment

As women work in the informal sector, with low wages and no social protection,

Indian government and governments across the world are working towards the economic inclusion of women.

An ICRW publication stated,

" Economically empowering women is essential both to realize women's right and to achieve broader development goals of economic growth".

The Beijing platform for action spoke -

"There is a need to promote women's economic independence ensuring equal access to resources for all the women".

India, with a low rate of women participation in the workforce, has launched several schemes to encourage women and provide them economic as well as social inclusion.

Some of the schemes are -

• Support to training and employment programme ( STEP) for women- launched with the aim of upgrading the skills of women who are marginalized.

This includes wage laborers, unpaid workers, and family below the poverty line.

• Maahila-E- Haat - It is an initiative for meeting the needs of women entrepreneurs, the scheme was launched to provide financial inclusion to women entrepreneurs in the economy.

Mahila shakti kendras - this scheme is launched to empower rural women through community participation to realize their full potential.

And many other schemes are being launched for women to reap the benefits of prosperity and enjoy socio-economic rights.

various steps are being taken to break the blocked women capacity to enjoy economic inclusion,

We can say that myopic vision for economic inclusion is broken and the involvement of women is also in the list now but the world has miles to go to achieve gender equality in the economy.