Who will take care of the child? Why many women stay out of the workforce india news

Can you become an IAS officer despite being an ‘expert mother’?Can women pursue challenging careers while fulfilling the responsibilities of motherhood? Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel believes they can and should do so.“Whether you become an IAS officer or a teacher, first of all become an expert mother. Everyone should know how to cook home-cooked food,” Patel said at the 41st convocation of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University.Her comments, which are part of a broader message on education, family and parenting, have revived a familiar debate: What support are there for women to balance career and caregiving?Labor data shows that this balance remains difficult. For many urban women, not lack of education or ambition, but child care and domestic responsibilities remain the biggest barriers to paid work.

what do the statistics say

A National Statistical Office The survey, covering India’s 46 largest urban centres, found that child care and household responsibilities keep 69% of non-working women out of the labor force. For many women, unpaid care work remains a greater barrier to employment than education or qualifications.The gender divide is clear. Barely 1% of non-working men cite child care or housework as the reason for their drop out of the workforce. Among women, this is by far the most common explanation.

Even higher education has not been able to solve the problem. More than 60% of female graduates are neither working nor looking for work. Only one in ten unemployed female graduates is actively looking for a job, while eight in ten male graduates are actively looking for a job.For many women, the challenge isn’t capacity – it’s the compatibility between career and caregiving responsibilities.Nibha Singh Mehar, an English teacher at an army school in Ranikhet, knows this firsthand. Married at 23, she became a mother at 25 and stepped away from her career for about two and a half years to raise her child.She said, “I believe motherhood is an important responsibility, but being an ‘expert mother’ and having a career are not mutually exclusive. Women should have the freedom to choose their own path. With family support, workplace flexibility and good child care, many women successfully balance both motherhood and a challenging career.”She says that motherhood and professional success should never be presented as competing goals.She added, “Also, motherhood is a beautiful journey that makes a woman feel complete in its own way, while becoming an IAS officer is undoubtedly a great achievement. A woman’s worth should never be judged by choosing one over the other; she should be empowered to excel in both if she wants to.”

a tale of Two Cities

The survey also shows that women’s experiences vary significantly depending on where they live, suggesting structural differences rather than a uniform cultural mindset.In Howrah, 83% of non-working women say household and child care responsibilities keep them away from paid work. Surat is at second place with 81%, Pimpri Chinchwad, Bhopal and Dhanbad are not far behind.In contrast, the figure has fallen to 38% in Coimbatore and 41% in Agra, while Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Srinagar and Kota have also recorded significantly lower numbers.The wide variation suggests that women’s participation in paid work may be influenced not only by social attitudes but also by factors such as access to child care facilities, transport, workplace flexibility and local employment opportunities.

missing child care support

The contrast between cities underscores a larger reality: child care remains largely a private family responsibility, rather than a public infrastructure.India has dramatically expanded girls’ access to education over the past two decades. But the systems that allow women to remain in paid employment – ​​affordable crèches, reliable daycare centers, after-school care, safe transportation and flexible workplaces – have not expanded at the same pace.For many moms, each work day begins with the same question: Who will take care of the kids?The experience of Kanchan Jha, a mathematics teacher at a private school in Surat, reflects that reality. She became a mother at 29 and again at 33, spending 12 years away from salaried work to care for her children before returning to teaching.

When asked if she had considered leaving her job because of child care, she says:“Like many working moms, there have been moments when balancing work and child care felt challenging. However, with family support and proper planning, it is possible to pursue both personal and professional goals.”She recalls that the hardest phase was not teaching herself, but trying to do everything at once.“The biggest challenge was managing time and dealing with the feeling that no role was getting my full attention. Balancing school responsibilities, household chores, and the emotional needs of a young child required careful planning and a strong support system.”On what would help more women remain in employment, their answers match the data.“Affordable and reliable childcare support will make the biggest difference. Access to quality childcare will help many mothers continue their careers, while ensuring their children receive the proper care and attention.”The shortcomings of this support system are also visible in the implementation of existing policies.The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 mandates crèche facilities in many establishments, while MNREGA also provides for child care at workplaces. But more than 85% of India’s working women are employed in the informal sector, which keeps them outside the scope of maternity laws. Even in establishments where crèches are mandatory, compliance remains poor. A 2019 VV Giri National Labor Institute study found that three out of four organizations with more than 50 employees lacked essential child care facilities.The challenge is particularly acute in agriculture, where more than 70% of working women are employed, but where less than 1% receive maternity benefits. Under MNREGA, awareness of child care provisions is low and their availability is even lower. A survey in Rajasthan found that only 53% of women knew that they were entitled to child care facilities, while only 0.7% reported that there was a crèche at their workplace.Trust is another concern. Allegations of abuse at Bengaluru daycare centers have also raised concerns about children’s safety, making many mothers even more hesitant to return to work.

gender discrimination in the workplace

Women who remain in the workforce also face unequal outcomes.According to the NSO survey, across 46 cities, salaried men earn an average of Rs 30,700 per month, while women earn Rs 23,700 – a difference of about 23%.The disparity is higher in cities like Kalyan-Dombivli, Navi Mumbai and Nagpur, where women earn almost half what men do. The situation for self-employed women is even worse, earning less than half of their male counterparts.However, the data does not suggest that women are working fewer hours. Employees in these cities work an average of about 50 hours per week, with salaried women in Rajkot and Faridabad working among the longest hours.

Why does this matter beyond homes?

This is not just a question of gender equality. This is also an economic issue. India has seen a gradual increase in women’s participation in the labor force. According to the latest Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS), the female labor force participation rate (LFPR) for those aged 15 and above increased to 35.3% in December 2025 from 35.1% in November. Rural female LFPR reached 40.1%, while the urban rate was 25.3%, highlighting the persistent gap between urban and rural India. At the same time, the NSO survey of 46 cities shows that 69% of non-working urban women cite child care and household responsibilities as the primary reason for staying out of the workforce. Together, both datasets suggest that while more women are entering the labor market, caregiving responsibilities are preventing many – particularly in urban India – from participating in paid employment.

Therefore, the challenge is not just to create jobs. It is creating the conditions that enable women to adopt these. Without affordable child care, flexible workplaces, and better support systems, many mothers will continue to face the same practical question every morning: Who will take care of the kids?

what the data shows

The survey cited caregiving as the most common reason for non-working women to remain out of the labor force. Nearly seven in ten women cited this as a barrier, although the figure ranged from 38% in Coimbatore to 83% in Howrah.Nibha Singh Mehar and Kanchan Jha both returned to work after taking a career break to raise their children. They cited family support, planning, workplace flexibility and access to reliable child care as important factors in balancing both roles.Kanchan said affordable and reliable child care is the solution that will make the biggest difference for working mothers.Meanwhile, Nibha said that motherhood and professional success should not be seen as competing options.He said, “A woman’s worth should never be judged by choosing one over the other; she should be given the right to excel in both if she wishes.”