Unsafe conditions for women can lead to their withdrawal from the workforce, and impact consumer spends.
Many in India see rape and other violent crimes against women as a typical law and order problem. Is it really so? Reports of women refusing job offers in Delhi/NCR or seeking relocation to supposedly safer cities tell a different story. Men too, fearing the safety of women in their families, may follow them soon.
If this issue remains unaddressed, it can adversely affect India’s tertiary sector, in particular IT and BPO, banking and financial, fashion, interior designing, sales and marketing, medicine, nursing, retail and tourism as women form a large proportion of the workforce.
Only a few months ago, rumours of violence against north-eastern people in Bengaluru led to their mass exodus and caused temporary closure of many restaurants in the city. IT and BPO companies too were badly affected.
Smart economics
Trust Law, the legal news service of Thomson Reuters, has ranked India as the fourth most dangerous place for women. To give us company are Afghanistan, Congo and Pakistan, the top three countries on the list. It would be pertinent to see how increasing crimes against women can affect business and economy.
However, there is a dearth of studies about the implications of crime against women on the economic performance of a country or region.
From their study of gender equality in education and employment, Luisa Natali and Naila Kabeer conclude that there is evidence to suggest that the ‘expanded pool of talent that results from increasing participation of women’ in workforce can contribute positively to the economic growth.
The reasoning is quite simple. Increasing participation of women in the economy supports it from both supply and demand side. From the supply side, it does so by adding to the size of the workforce, promoting division of labour and greater specialisation. From the demand side, it supports the economy by generating additional demand for a range of products and services.
The World Bank rightly reports that the business case for expanding economic opportunities for women (by closing the gap between men and women employment) is increasingly evident and hence it is nothing but ‘smart economics’.
The study of Booz & Co concludes that ‘women can be powerful driver of economic growth’ and raising female employment up to the levels of males can have a direct positive impact on a country’s economy. In India’s case, it is as high as 27 per cent of its GDP given India’s poor rank of 115 on Third Billion Index (which ranks countries in terms of how effectively, they empower their women as active economic agents).
The positive impact of women’s education and employment on the next generation is obvious as women in general are more likely (than men) to spend a higher proportion of their income on the education of their children.
Thus, even a small increase in the economic opportunities available to women and removal of cultural bottlenecks that hold them back from becoming active economic agents can be immensely beneficial to the economy.
Agent for economic growth
Ideally, women should form roughly 50 per cent of the workforce of an economy. However, women’s share in India’s workforce was just 25.3 per cent in 2010. Instead of going up, their share has fallen by 4 per cent in the period 2005-10. Given the predominant role of services (60 per cent share in the GDP) in India’s economy, demand for skilled people is growing much faster than its supply. Women can fill this gap if the right environment (physical safety would be one of the key components here) is ensured.
Many women are migrating from smaller towns to big cities such as Delhi to acquire higher education and skills and take up better paying jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy. Many of them stay alone or with roommates far away from their hometowns.
Crimes against women will check their migration to cities and retard the process of transforming more women into active economic agents and leave the economy worse off.
Slower addition of India’s women in the country’s workforce means slower increase in labour supply, less scope for specialisation and faster increase in wages. Already, average labour cost in India is almost equal to China, even though Chinese per capita income is roughly thrice that of India.
A check on participation of women in the workforce on the issue of their safety and security concerns will further erode the cost competitiveness of Indian businesses, already suffering from demand slowdown, high prices of inputs, poor regulation and poorer infrastructure.
Economically empowered women in India are a new, steady source of consumption demand. In the last two decades, they have benefited the manufacturers and retailers of bags, beauty care and cosmetics, food and beverage, expensive clothing and lingerie and other life style products and services — in which they have a larger say in purchasing decisions.
These sectors are more likely to post poor results in future if crime against women is not given the attention it deserves.
Tourism, which accounted for foreign exchange earnings of $18 billion (besides providing livelihood support to millions of skilled and unskilled workers) in 2012, can be another casualty. India’s poor record in attracting tourists (6.5 million tourists against China’s 65 million in 2012) is undisputable.
Given the fact that the share of women tourists is 40 per cent now, up from 25 per cent a decade earlier, India’s effort to promote this sector can take a hit if crimes against women remain unchecked.
Business case
Given the nature of politics in India, judicial, legislative and police reforms will take their own time.
Meanwhile, businesses having operations in areas perceived to be unsafe for women will have to bear the financial consequences of not being able to find suitable and sufficient number of women employees, in addition to overall lower demand for their products and services.
Thus, it makes commercial sense for businesses operating in cities such as Delhi/NCR, especially those from services sector, to take pro-active steps to make their women employees (current or prospective) feel safe.
This also calls for taking tough in-house measures to deal with cases of sexual harassment, as they tend to demoralise women employees and hurt their overall productivity.
(Ritesh Kumar Singh is Group Economist of a corporate house. Prerna Sharma is a research analyst in a financial services firm. Views are personal)
Keywords: safety of women, crimes against women, Trust Law, Thomson Reuters, ranked India, dangerous place for women, withdrawal from workforce, impact consumer spends
Comments:
There is absouletly no disagreement on this.
Just to add if I may, charity begins at home.....so the responsibility first is with the male counterparts at home to ensure women are treated with respect and as equal.
Provide a conducive environment at home first for them to flourish outside.
The cummulative actions and thoughts at all homes will ultimately culminate in a safer place for women outside.
This in any way does not dilute the responsibilty of the law enforcers and corporates to provide safety and oppourtunity to women.
The addition to economic growth is immaterial, that is not what should drive us to provide women safety.The women at home already impacts the society by giving birth and providing and nuturing future leaders at home - "our children" which no man can do.
It should be their right!
A very nice article by Ritesh Kumar Sinh. Our society's main gray area
is women safety in the work places. if we (as a nation) ensure women
safety in the country by implementing better Laws & rules, than it will
certainly add economic inputs in to the country's overall developments.
Considering the high incidence of rapes, including gang rapes that has been reported in the recent past in Noida, Delhi and other parts of India, as well as here on my side of the border, this article shows the corporates "whats in it for them" to provide safety and security to their workforce. Though I am not a feminist, but I am in favor of women participating in the work force and for that, not only crimes need to be checked, but also the social attitude towards the women who work need to be nurtured in a positive and efficient manner so that a working woman is not "looked down upon" as someone who is ignoring her primary responsibility towards home.
To add I would recommend companies to invest in day care centers at work places offering a chance to many more mothers to undertake employment without the social pressure of being "irresponsible mothers who leave their children at home and chose to work instead".
Very well written and said. Disrespect for women and their abuse has become much more prevalent then ever. A nice article to understand the importance of women in economic growth.
An interesting article, brings out several important issues relating
to crime against women. There is really no denying the fact that
women, if duly empowered could become an engine for a more sustainable
economic growth. On the other hand it is also true that crime against
women is perhaps the biggest hindrance in ensuring this empowerment.
As the author rightly argue, there is really dearth of deeper studies
and knowledge on why and how crimes happen.
I often feel tempted to undertake such exploratory study to answer
questions, such as (a) why has Delhi become the rape capital of India?
(b) why is there lower number of rapes and crime against women in
places like Kerala, and other states in South India, and Kolkata? (c)
Has climate of a place (dry, humid, semi dry, etc) anything to do with
such crimes? and similar other questions.
I hope, Ritesh will take up this sometime.
Hi Ritesh
I agree that women participation would bring an addition to social
welfare, but I dis-agree at the point that it would be a boon to the
economy in an economic sense.
Kindly look it in broader context. At least 18 years of skill
development process is required to enable women to actively
participate & contribute to economy's growth process.
Let us assume for the time being,that our society has transformed into
an equal-opportunity society overnight and that women are encouraged
to participate in economic activity. Let the readers know of the
number of women getting benefits out it instantly and the path economy
would take going forward? With more than 60% population in agriculture
sector and 80% employment in un-organized sector, I would only say
that thinking good for women is a civilized culture but an Utopian
drama in action.
In my opinion, the problem is not in mindset but in ill-designed
policies on all fronts that are in action much before India's
independence.
No doubt participation of women in growth of an economy is important. However safety of women should be considered as non-negotiable and their basic right. It should not be dependent on any benefit or gains that can be made in economy.
I agree with most of what Ritesh writes in this article. It is true
that contribution of women in GDP of India is vital. I disagree with
comments from Sandeep Baranwal on following grounds- Even with major
population in agriculture and employment in unorganised sector, women
work force participation rate is higher specially in rural areas.
Second, problem is as acute due to mindset as out of policy issues.
Hence, despite that Policy action is important; change in social
perception is a prerequisite for ensuring safety of women and thereby
improving their economic contribution.
This Oped piece is not to emphasize that we should treat our women well to increase their work force participation...but to emphasize that this is one more reason to make women feel safe.
I would see this as an opportunity for cities to compete on the basis of providing a safe and secure environment to its residents especially women. We have seen state governments brand themselves as providing 100% power, good infrastructure etc.
Now, the debate should now shift towards providing safe environment for women. Maybe, articles such as yours would ring a bell in the government's ears and they would start competing with others to attract quality workforce.
Dear Ritesh
You are absolutely correct violence against women's are going to disturb economic activities along with other social imbalances. I think it is not only happening in INDIA alone but other countries are to some extent facing the threat now a days. The Article is very nicely written and a very important note for all conscious people around the globe.
Thanks and Regards
S E Ahsan
I'll have to agree with you on this. Your write-up brings in a fresh perspective and can probably be a motivating factor for the government to take necessary measures to ensure women's safety. However, the responsibility does not lie on the government alone. The employers, in addition to the government, can make a significant impact on the safety of women. A basic understanding of the idea of supply and demand of the labor force can definitely solve a lot of India's economic woes
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