Mother's Day 2023: Working mothers are still struggling; here’s how employers can support them

Meena Kotwal, a Dalit journalist from New Delhi, turned heads when she marched alongside Rahul Gandhi with a mic in one hand and her baby in another. The young mother did not waver as she kept pace with Gandhi while interviewing him on ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra'. Her spirit was celebrated on Twitter and her conduct was endorsed as ‘An absolute vision' for young working mothers at work.

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Meena Kotwal interviewing Rahul Gandhi on 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'. Photo Courtesy: Mooknayak

In another instance, Prashansak, a 10-week-old toddler, had his first political day-out at the Maharashtra assembly's winter session. New mother, Saroj Babulal Ahire, a Nationalist Congress Party MLA from Deolali emerged as a trailblazer when she stepped in at the state's highest law-making institution with her infant wrapped in a blanket.

Undoubtedly, mothers are a resilient breed. The manoeuvre pulled by Saroj manifested into a creche centre named ‘Hirkani Room' at the state legislative office. As per the National Creche Scheme for the Children of Working Mothers, "A crèche is a facility which enables parents to leave their children while they are at work. The space is meant to nurture infants and provide a stimulating environment for their holistic development."

Saroj Ahire at Maharashtra's state legislative assembly with her 10-week-old toddler. Photo Courtesy: Midday File Pic

While the ‘Hirkani Room' at the Maharashtra legislature office is a small step towards empowering young mothers, many women continue to drop out of the workforce as a penalty for motherhood. Such is the case of Mehez Khan, 33, who had to resign from her job after giving birth to her daughter.

In a telephonic conversation with Midday, Khan shares, "It was a difficult decision to quit my job as a financial analyst at a Mumbai-based firm in August 2022. My daughter was almost six months old and needed intimate care and attention. With no creche facility at the workplace, it became tough to take care of her. Had I received help from my husband and in-laws, things would have worked out differently."

The 32-year-old aspires to work again after four years but fears that the halt will render her uncompetitive. "The financial regulations get updated frequently and in order to bridge the gap, I will have to learn a lot." Like Khan, scores of women quit working to deal with motherhood and childcare responsibilities.

According to the World Bank report released in June 2022, Indian women's labour force participation stood at 30.7 per cent in 2006 which has been steadily declining to reach a new low of 19.2 per cent in 2021. Recent research combines this data to reveal that patriarchal oppressions and structural barriers at the workplace deter young mothers' participation in the economy.

Additionally, the past few decades have shown a rapid increase in nuclear families and the breaking up of the joint family system. Thus, the children of working women, who were earlier getting support from relatives and neighbours, have now become the sole responsibility of mothers.

A recent survey conducted by LinkedIn revealed that 31 per cent Indian working mothers were providing full-time childcare in comparison to 17 per cent working fathers. Photo Courtesy: iStock

More than 44 per cent women were also working outside their business hours to provide childcare, nearly twice as many as the figure for men at 25 per cent. Around 42 per cent reported being unable to focus on work with children at home and 46 per cent worked till late to make up for the pending tasks. The apathy is real and goes unaddressed forcing young moms into stressful working conditions.

Mid-day Online spoke to Priyanka Mehandiratta, founder and CEO of Unmute, an initiative that empowers women to voice their opinions and become future leaders. She shares, "54,000 pregnant women and new mothers are pushed out of their jobs each year and 77 per cent of working mothers experience some form of discrimination in the workplace. It doesn't end here, companies are even going ahead and laying them off while they are on maternity leave. Any woman who has encountered this will attest to the fact of how inhuman this feels."

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Resonating with Priyanka's stance, Sunpreet Kesarwani shares how she was mentally harassed at the workplace when she revealed her pregnancy to HR. She recounts the horrific episodes that led her to resign from a Gurugram-based technology firm where she worked as the product manager. In a conversation with Midday, Kesarwani recalls the events that led to her resignation, "One fine day, during appraisals, the HR called me to tell me that I am being promoted. I was elated to hear the news!"

However, things went down a slippery slope after 15 days, when Sunpreet found out about her pregnancy. "First three months are usually really hard in pregnancy, you puke a lot and you can barely get out of bed. My colleagues cautioned me against sharing the news with HR. However, I went ahead and revealed my pregnancy to the HR and what followed was a dreadful period of torture and gaslighting."

At first, HR cancelled her promotion without prior information which shocked Sunpreet but she didn't rebel. Then came the micro-management phase when her activities began to be tightly monitored. Whether she was at her desk or on a break, she was being spied on. This went on for a few days till the HR called her to propose an offer:

1. We will not pay you for the maternity leave
2. For the days that you work post-delivery, we will pay 50 per cent of your basic salary
3. No Provident Fund shall be transferred to you

"Take it or leave it" were the words that threw Sunpreet into a frenzy and she decided to stand up to the discriminatory behaviour. She denied the offer and left the job to take care of her baby. What jolted our conscience is the fact that the HR head and HR manager were both women.

Sunpreet gave birth to her son and is now on a self-development journey while working a full-time corporate job in Gurugram. Photo Courtesy: Sunpreet K

Like Sunpreet, many women experience bullying and harassment at the workplace, which strips them of their confidence and self-worth. Getting pregnant not only threatens careers but also induces stress. Priyanka shares with us how the disparity can be addressed to create a conducive environment at the workplace for young mothers.

Ways employers can support young working mothers:

Creche at the workplace: Mothers will work and continue to bear children. Installing creche at the workplace will ensure care for their children thereby taking off a few responsibilities that mothers shoulder. The creche facilities have been mandated by the government to provide care for children up to 6 years. If onsite creches have limited seats, children can be put on a waiting list beforehand to secure a seat.

Streamlining benefits for working moms: Arguably the most important step is to make the benefits process easier. Parental benefits like paid maternity leave, child care assistance, miscarriage leaves are some of the benefits that can help to retain talent in the organisation. HR must be nudged to focus on child-care benefits with just as much focus as healthcare.

Flexible work schedules: The need to adopt flexible working hours is a practical module now more than ever. As young mothers juggle between official and motherly duties, they can be given the leverage of flexible work hours. It is no longer a perk but a necessity to attract and retain top talent within the organisation.

Normalising paternity leave: Bringing up a child is a prerogative of both parents. Restricting mothers to child rearing is an age-old practice that limits the working capacity of women. Employers must step in to break the barriers and allow fathers to take time off and attend to their children.

Create support networks: This may sound obvious but young mothers need help especially if they are first-time mums. Employers need to develop internal support groups which provide practical solutions that mothers face during pre and post-natal stages. Support groups can also empower young working women to voice concerns in case of any discrimination or disparity that they may face at the workplace.

Train managers to be empathetic: Managers need to learn the power of empathy to make their employees feel valued and respected. They must ask pregnant employees about how they like to be supported in their careers. It also entails accepting potential fluctuations that may occur during pregnancy. Care must be taken to not pressure pregnant or young mothers with excessive work else it is a path to early burnout.

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