Indira Hirway Centre For Development Alternatives, India 30 th November, 2011 Santiago, Chile

1. Employment Policies for Economic EmpowermentSession 3, Panel 1International Seminar Policies on Time, Time of Policymaking Indira Hirway Centre For Development Alternatives, India 30th November, 2011 Santiago, Chile

2. This Presentation • Discusses relationship between employment policies economic empowerment • Presents two case studies of impact of two important employment policies on time use of men and women • Shows how the impact on the time use has macroeconomic implications, and draws inferences for designing and monitoring policies for employment for women

3. Employment Policies and Economic Empowerment • Gender empowerment essentially means empowering women to change power relations between men and women in favor of women, ultimately to give equal opportunities to both • Economic empowerment of women is only a part of overall empowerment and it is a step towards overall empowerment of women • Of the different policies of economic empowerment, productive employment with decent work conditions is an important policy • There are basically three approaches for enhancing employment opportunities for women

4. Expansion of Mainstream Employment under Globalization • Restructuring of production under globalization • Restructuring of labour emanating from restructuring of production • Restructuring of women’s employment intensifying women’s disadvantages in the labour market • Rapid rise in home-based work

5. Time Use of HB workers • no uniform pattern of working time, starting time 8:30 – to midnight, 2-5 working periods • average minutes put in by the workers on garment was 494.3 minutes and HH members put in average 378.5 minutes, • Overall, HH members contribute 47 % of the total garment working time • Children also help in HBW or in HH work including care

6. Time Allocation by Men and Women on Different Activities

7. Time Use of children(6-14) • 33.33 % boys and 75 % girls participate in SNA work for 25 minutes and 30 minutes respectively • They spend average of 10 minutes and 105 minutes respectively on non-SNA work, • On an average, boys and girls spend 25 minutes and 120 minutes on total work, with half the girls spending more than 2 hours on total work • Boys and girls spend average 470 and 387 minutes on education

8. Implications and Inferences • HB work system, expanded rapidly under trade liberalization, has given a big push to women’s WPR - At the root of HBW is the unequal sharing of non-SNA work by men and women • HBW has many advantages for producers: they acquire flexibility of production along with freedom to reject output of poor quality; they They save on space for production and the cost on facilities, overheads, expenditure on maintaining safe and clean surroundings for work and on expenditure on raw materials and cost of social security • HBW has raised GDP, foreign exchange reserves as well as profits for producers and capital accumulation

9. Impact on macro-economy • HB system of work traps the workers in low skill, low productivity activities, providing them little scope for improving productivity and upward mobility. This is a major loss to the economy • Since these on-the-job trained semi-literates have limited capacity to acquire higher level skills, they have limited scope for skill up-gradation. • human capital depletion - overuse of labour implies less than optimum use of labour, having adverse implications for macroeconomic growth – and reduced well-being of women, • Their low wages, low productivity and low incomes make it necessary for other HH members to participate again at low productivity, generating a vicious circle low wages and high participation of HH members • HBW encourages participation of children, this limits their chances in life, particularly girls, burdened with three kinds of work, are not free to study or to enjoy childhood.

10. In short…. • Macroeconomic policies should be assessed in a broader framework • Integrate non-SNA work and gender concerns into mainstream policy making, i.e. in the trade policy, industrial policy, fiscal policy, labour policy etc for ensuring optimum growth, optimum well-being and good care • Addressing constraints of home based workers • Protect well being of people for sustained economic growth of the economy.

11. Wage Employment Programs and Women • Wage employment programs or public works programs have always attracted women - locally available - usually with care facility - can be managed with HH work - employment is given by government - minimum wages are ensured • Case of MGNREGA in India – women’s participation has been very high

12. Positive Impacts on Women • Women have paid work, own incomes in their own accounts and some freedom to spend money • They have acquired mobility and improved self esteem, confidence • As cash earners, more respect in the HH and increased role in HH decision making • They have acquired collective strength, new leadership and increased participation in village affairs • They have started self help groups and increased social capital

13. Changing Time Use of Women Workers • Increase in work time where work is strenuous, increased multi-tasking and tremendous time stress, poor sharing of unpaid work and high gender inequalities in time use • they also spend long hours in fetching water, fuel wood and fodder for animals • They have less time for children - • Changes in the time use of children – they (mainly girls) spend more time on HH work or child care, less time on education • However the program is considered successful, generating employment for women on a large scale

14. Losses to the Economy • Loss of well being of a significant part of the labour force • Loss of human capital of women workforce, making such programs unsustainable in the long run • Children’s well-being and education is affected adversely

15. Addressing Unpaid Work under MGNREGA • MGNREGA should be evaluated in a broader framework – including its impacts on the times use of concerned HH • Give a high priority to assets that reduce unpaid work including drudgery of women • Ensure basic services and infrastructure to women for care and HH work • Include basic services within the purview of MGNREGA • The economy will gain considerably by addressing unpaid work of women

16. Employment Policies for Gender Empowerment • Women have several disadvantages in the labour market • However the right kind of employment policies can lead to improvement in their status in the labour market • These policies also have clear macroeconomic advantages: (1) they will ensure improved well-being in the economy, (2) it will help the labour force in the economy to reach its potential by improving their opportunities in the labour market • It will also ensure optimum use of the labour in the economy and therefore ensure optimum growth with justice • It will improve chances of the future generation of the economy

17. THANK YOU !