Wife on Wages

Yesterday, in a Telugu daily, I read that the government is planning to introduce a bill enabling wife to get 10-20% of husband’s income into her account.  This is supposed to be part of women empowerment.  Woman by choice or force remains just homemaker and her work is never valued.  And such women are said to be dependent and worthless.  In fact, such women are doing selfless service to the family.  Their efforts are invaluable and always remain undervalued. 

A wife, remaining a simple housewife, is rendering services as Manu said,

1) Servant – taking care of the home and maintaining healthy and peaceful living conditions

2) Helping husband in his work and guiding him as and when necessary

3) Cooking and serving food

4) Fulfilling biological needs as companion

In short she is a domestic maid, secretary, cook and obedient consort. She is even the untold watch dog in the house. As family all these are unsaid duties of woman.  As family man has duty to provide food and shelter to the woman and protect her.  Husband fulfills the needs and if he thinks he is playing his dutiful role, the family will not have problem.  But when he thinks it is his benevolence and wife, home-maker efforts are worthless the problem arises. 

In a family a woman is also a mother.  As a mother she has to take care of children, nurse them, teach them and help them grow into healthy heirs (citizens).  A mother is a nurse, governess and teacher.  When somebody wants to pay a woman, wife – mother, they will have to think of all these services she is carrying on in the family.  When every service is accounted woman deserves the entire earnings of the husband and more.  In a healthy family, with good understanding, the couple will live a happy life sharing financial and social pleasures and pains.  The problem is when man has addictions, neglects family, ill treats wife and batters children either physically or emotionally.  In such conditions wife and family is to be supported financially and socially.  Then the earnings of the man – husband in the family is taken into account and appropriate amount is to be deposited into the account of wife.  Just passing the bill to deposit 10-20% of a man’s income into wife’s account does not fetch any benefit to the woman.  It seems quite ridiculous as the services of woman are so trivialized.

If the government can implement compulsory education to all girls up to high school, curbs child marriages and strictly implements anti dowry law will benefit women a lot better.

 The Indian parliament could not pass the Look Pal bill since 50 years and woman

reservation bill couldn’t tabled for the past 20 years.  The formulation of this new bill itself will be a miracle leave alone the implementation.

In the era of consumerism everything is traded, including mother’s milk and even motherhood.  If somebody wants to calculate the cost of contribution of a family member, be it the wife, husband, children or brothers and sisters, it is not the physical work that should be calculated, but also the emotional baggage that is involved.  In a healthy family husband and wife’s income equally belongs to one another.  In a situation when husband turns wayward, 80% of his income should belong to the family and the responsible person should get into the account. 

To empower woman free education and imparting life skills is important.