Work Life Balance
WORK LIFE BALANCE
The article talks about the importance of work life balance, especially in relation to India. In the Indian context, work life balance has many social and cultural connotations. There are many factors that need to be taken into account to understand work balance with respect to India better:
India is a deeply religious country, housing abundant religions within itself and the most dominant of them is Hinduism. The caste system is also prevalent in India. In combination with the forces of industrialization, modernization and urbanization, there is some evidence that caste groups are now serving more as a way for people to assert their cultural identity rather than as a way of establishing their place in the social hierarchy. The family is the basic unit of India’s social order with designated roles for both men and women. Partners are usually found from within the same caste, religion, or social class/status group, making India’s culture high on the dimension of in-group collectivism. Although the employment and status of women has been changing due to the forces of modernization and industrialization and due to the efforts of the women’s movement in India, this change has been slow.
WORK LIFE BALANCE IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT
Support for work and family balance in India comes mainly from the non-institutional family context. Institutional support for work and family issues is low in India and takes the form of government policies that are progressive on paper but poorly implemented. Some of the important government policies that address work and family concerns include the Maternity Benefits Act f 1961, the Factories Act of 1948, and the amendment to the Indian penal code (1869) section 509 aimed at addressing sexual harassment in the workplace.
Some gaps exist in the Indian government’s policy approach to addressing work and family issues. Work and family issues are rarely tackled directly in policy statements. There are no laws passed that
The article talks about the importance of work life balance, especially in relation to India. In the Indian context, work life balance has many social and cultural connotations. There are many factors that need to be taken into account to understand work balance with respect to India better:
India is a deeply religious country, housing abundant religions within itself and the most dominant of them is Hinduism. The caste system is also prevalent in India. In combination with the forces of industrialization, modernization and urbanization, there is some evidence that caste groups are now serving more as a way for people to assert their cultural identity rather than as a way of establishing their place in the social hierarchy. The family is the basic unit of India’s social order with designated roles for both men and women. Partners are usually found from within the same caste, religion, or social class/status group, making India’s culture high on the dimension of in-group collectivism. Although the employment and status of women has been changing due to the forces of modernization and industrialization and due to the efforts of the women’s movement in India, this change has been slow.
WORK LIFE BALANCE IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT
Support for work and family balance in India comes mainly from the non-institutional family context. Institutional support for work and family issues is low in India and takes the form of government policies that are progressive on paper but poorly implemented. Some of the important government policies that address work and family concerns include the Maternity Benefits Act f 1961, the Factories Act of 1948, and the amendment to the Indian penal code (1869) section 509 aimed at addressing sexual harassment in the workplace.
Some gaps exist in the Indian government’s policy approach to addressing work and family issues. Work and family issues are rarely tackled directly in policy statements. There are no laws passed that