Picture courtesy: https://www.indiatvnews.com/ by Oshi Singh for representation only.
Whenever we receive appreciation always makes us feel cared. It gives us a push. It helps us go on even if times are hard. It makes us feel valued. It makes us feel like our presence matters. But imagine a scenario where you work 24/7 and put your blood and sweat into your work, yet you always go unnoticed.
Well, that’s the case of housewives in almost every household. I believe that housewives SHOULD be paid.
We are way past when daughters were only taught household work like cooking and cleaning. We are living in a world in which humankind has spread the concept of equality to a large extent.
Introducing a new concept doesn’t mean that everyone will accept it immediately. It is a gradual process. The same happened with EQUALITY. While nowadays we see a lot of women working, many still are housewives. A point to be noted is that even though women work, they still work extremely hard in their houses.
As per the 2011 census, nearly 159.85 million women mentioned household work as their primary occupation. It has been observed that urban Indian housewives constitute around 88% of the women population in India. But out of these millions of housewives, I can assure you that not even one is paid for her work.
We all hire help in our household to do tasks like cooking, cleaning etc. The functions an average housewife does daily, but the only difference is that these housewives aren’t paid. Don’t they do the same tasks with more love, affection, and care? Why do people think that since they are housewives or a part of the family, they don’t deserve to be paid or shouldn’t be paid?
The government should pass a law that states that housewives should be paid. This payment will not only guarantee the allowance for housewives but will also make them financially independent. This would also provide excellent security to women, especially single mothers. So if she loses her husband, who was the breadwinner of the family, she would be able to take charge and would be able to take care of her family’s momentary needs. Secondly, this will also provide justice to the hard work, efforts and time they put in the work they do for everyone every day without any break.
If anything in life comes too easy, we must remember its value. The same is true for housewives. Just because someone is doing our work for us for free does not mean we don’t value them and respect them. Housewives are often called a ‘burden’, which is untrue! This is another reason why I believe that housewives should be paid. An income would make sure that housewives aren’t referred to as a burden anymore. Often, a woman stays in a relationship that isn’t working out just because she doesn’t want to cause trouble to her family or is financially dependent on her husband.
Before I end, the husband is often called the pillar of the family, which is incomplete. A housewife is also the pillar of the family. She cooks, cleans, and takes care of the WHOLE family, and the least we can do is show our love and appreciation towards her. Thus to enhance the dignity of housewives and to make them INDEPENDENT, I say housewives should be paid because once they are, no housewife would just be a “normal” housewife.
IX C || Gyanshree School
Reference: https://www.indiatvnews.com/business/news-uae-businessman-sohan-roy-aries-group-salary-to-housewives-682686
