Will Karnataka’s ‘Koosina Mane’ be a Game Changer for Women in the Rural Workforce?

Introduction

The Karnataka government recently announced the “Koosina Mane” scheme to boost women’s labour force participation in the state. Under the scheme, the state government will set up childcare creches in 4000 gram panchayats to provide childcare services to women enrolled under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), as well as other working mothers in the vicinity. Given India’s historically low female labour force participation rate compared to global levels, experts have called for the provision of state-based childcare support as one of the ways to reverse this trend. ¹

The female workforce in India is concentrated in the informal sector, especially in agricultural work. The triple burden of work faced by women – care work, household responsibilities, and paid work – limits their ability to participate productively in the labour market. This can be seen by the dip in the labour force participation of women post marriage, especially during peak reproductive age. ² Women tend to drop out of the work force with the birth of a child and face numerous challenges re-entering the labour market. ³ In order to balance the need for income generation with childcare responsibilities, they tend to settle for underpaid, or unpaid, flexible work opportunities either closer to or within their homes. ⁴ This is more pronounced in low- and middle-income countries, where the motherhood penalty can result in a 42 percent decrease in earnings. ⁵

In the absence of childcare facilities, women seek support from older family members or children, and their community to assist with childcare while they engage in income generating work. It is also very common for mothers to take children below school going age with them to their workplace, where the children are exposed to heat, dust and potential injuries. The absence of good childcare not only has a negative impact on the child’s growth and development, but its absence also hinders the mother’s ability to seek better or higher paying job opportunities. ⁶

However, ample evidence from across the globe suggests that reliable, accessible, and good quality childcare can have a positive impact on a mothers’ employment outcomes and a child’s developmental progress. In addition to freeing up the mothers’ time by shifting the burden of childcare outside the household, childcare centres are an effective mechanism to ensure that the nutritional and educational needs of children are met in line with their developmental stage. ⁷

For example, a study of a large-scale publicly funded urban childcare programme in Nicaragua for children between the ages of 0-4 years found a positive impact on both maternal work and social-emotional development of children. ⁸ According to this study, the social return as captured through the increase in income for families participating in the study was greater than the programme cost per child, making the programme cost effective. Similarly, a study in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, found that when provided with subsidies to access early childcare, mothers were 8.5 percentage points more likely to be working than mothers without childcare. The study also found that single mothers were able to access better jobs and increase their income relative to non-single mothers, without having to increase their working hours. ⁹

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), a centrally sponsored demand driven wage employment programme introduced in India in 2005, took this into account and mandated the establishment of childcare facilities at worksites. The Act mandates the provision of safe drinking water and a shed for children, in addition to a creche or childcare facilities at any worksite where more than five children under the age of six years accompany their parents. ¹⁰ Given that more than 50 percent of MNREGA beneficiaries across the country are women, this is a step in the right direction. ¹¹ However, studies show that while MNREGA has an overall positive impact on women’s economic and social well-being, awareness regarding, and effectiveness of, childcare facilities is limited. ^{12, 13} The Koosina Mane scheme aims to compensate for this by providing childcare facilities within the gram panchayat and making it accessible to all working mothers in the vicinity.

Other childcare focused schemes in India, like the National Creche Scheme, now subsumed as the Palna Scheme under Mission Shakti, aim to “provide day-care facilities for children (6 months to 6 years) of working mothers and to improve nutrition and health status of children” with a focus on “women of low-income groups who go to work at least 15 days a month, or six months a year.” ^{14, 15} However, an analysis by The Hindu shows that insufficient budget allocation and significant underutilisation of the allocated budgets have rendered the scheme ineffective. ¹⁶

This piece analyses data on women’s labour force participation in Karnataka to highlight the challenges and opportunities and the need for a comprehensive childcare support programme.

Labour force participation of rural women in Karnataka

The labour force participation for rural women (age 15 and above) in Karnataka stands at 36.3 percent, which is comparable to the national average of 36.6 percent (Figure 1). However, rural women’s participation in the labour force is significantly lower than compared to rural men in Karnataka, which stands at 78.6 percent; rural women’s participation is 42 percentage points lower than that of rural men.

Figure 1: Labour Force Participation in Karnataka (Rural Age 15 & above)

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey 2021-22

Younger women and labour force participation

For younger women in Karnataka, between the ages of 15-29, the labour force participation falls further to 19.3 percent (Figure 2). It is possible that the withdrawal from the labour-force for this age group may be due to enrolment in educational institutions. However, at the national level, the percentage of rural women enrolled in educational institutions is higher than that of women solely engaged in domestic duties for the age-group of 15-19 years (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Labour Force Participation in Karnataka (Rural)

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey 2021-22

Figure 3: Distribution of Working-age Women in India

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey 2021-22

Education Enrolment and Domestic Duties

For the subsequent three age-groups (20-24, 25-29, 30-34), the share of women who report not looking for paid work due to domestic duties and other income generating work is higher relative to the other two groups before beginning to stabilize for age after 35 years. Furthermore, data from NFHS-5 suggests that the age-specific fertility rate is highest for age groups 20-24 and 25-29 at 149 and 100 children per 1000 women respectively. While there is no conclusive data on this, it is highly probable from this that a significant number of women are out of the labour force due to childcare responsibilities in addition to other domestic duties.

Casual and self-employment trends among rural women

Large numbers of rural women are working either as self-employed (52.1 percent) or as casual workers (38.9 percent) (Figure 4). Much of this employment is in agriculture. This is in stark contrast with urban women, 63.5 percent of whom report having regular wage work.

Figure 4: Employment type for working women

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey 2021-22

In rural Karnataka, the incidence of casual work for women is higher compared to the national average of 24.1 percent. At the same time, the wages for casual workers are consistently lower than that of men in rural Karnataka, as well as those of women on an average across the country. The gender wage gap for casual workers in Karnataka varied anywhere between 34 percent and 50 percent at different points in the year 2021-22 (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Gender wage gap for casual workers in Karnataka in 2021-22

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey 2021-22

Women in casual employment work up to 4 hours less than men; self-employed women work 15.5 less than self-employed men. Over 65 percent of female workers in rural Karnataka work for anywhere between 25-48 hours (Figure 6). About 60 percent of the male workers work for 37-60 hours. The difference in working hours for men and women is likely due to the burden of domestic responsibilities on women such as unpaid care work, household chores, and childcare. It is clear that the burden on female workers engaged in casual work is much higher than on other female workers.

Figure 6: No. of hours worked in a week

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey 2021-22

Women’s participation in MNREGA

Women’s participation in MGNREGA work has consistently increased in the last few years to slightly over 50 percent of the total person-days generated under the public works program (Figure 7). However, challenges related to childcare persist, particularly at large public work sites where safety is a concern.

Figure 7: Persondays for women as a share of total person days

Source : MGNREGA MIS Data

Conclusion: The need for Koosina Mane

Given this context of increasing MNREGA employment among women in the state, the need to alleviate the burden of childcare and domestic duties for women engaged in casual labour and public works programmes is critical. The ‘Koosina Mane’ scheme is an effort in this very direction. In addition to the childcare benefits for women workers, the scheme also promises a better environment for children, with the provision of healthy food and a bridge to joining school when they turn six years old. ¹⁷ By moving care work outside the household, the scheme can play an important role in redefining gendered norms of the mother as the primary caregiver.

However, it is important to keep in mind that the barriers to women’s labour force participation are complex, and while the provision of childcare facilities provides one avenue to address the issue, it cannot solve for all cultural and social constraints that inhibit women from accessing productive and well-remunerated work. The availability and access to employment opportunities and restrictive gender norms are issues that need to be addressed in congruence with the provision of childcare facilities. ¹⁸