Food & Health of Urban Poor Women:
- Inflation of milk, vegetables, and pulses directly affects nutrition security of urban poor woman and her children.
- Since rural women engage in agriculture, fisheries and dairying; Government schemes for purchase of cattle, goat, hens- they’re slightly better off.
Residence & family life of Urban Poor Women:
- Nuclear families in slums, usually without caste-community affiliations. Husband has less fear of relatives or elders of the community. Could be more abusive / domestic violence than rural.
- Crime, Drugs, Liquor, Gambling, and Juvenile Delinquency is more prominent in urban slums than rural. When male members of a poor family engage in these evils, it has repercussion on the females of the house as well.
- Urban areas have higher cost of living. So, Urban poor woman have to engage herself in petty-labour while looking after the household chores and childcare. Rural women might have the help of grandparents / family elders / in-laws to take care of raising the children and dividing the domestic chores. So, she may have slightly better peace of mind.
- Urban slums have unhygienic conditions, and they are more prone to damage in urban floods which leads to diseases, financial distress. In Rural floods, Government relief and compensation packages are bigger and arrive more quickly due to the electoral politics.
- Urban slums more prone to eviction during anti-encroachment drives compared to rural slums.
Occupation & Financial Well-being of Urban Poor Women:
- Urban poor women face inequality in wages and job-opportunities. Salaried urban jobs require skill and documents- be it driver, electrician, plumber, nurse, receptionist, computer operator or teacher.
- So, urban poor women due to lack of higher-education end up in rag-picking, construction and hazardous industries without social security are more prone to industrial / occupational disease, disability. Rural women don’t have social security either, but they’re less prone to occupational disease because pesticide spraying is usually done by males.
- Urban poor women can hold only one type of job at a time (maids, ragpickers), whereas a rural poor woman can collect of minor forest produce in the morning, MGNREGA/farm-labourer in the afternoon and rearing hen/goat in the evening or going to a self-help-group for soap / handicrafts. So, employment security for rural poor women is slighter better than urban counterpart.
Political Voice of Urban Poor Women:
- Nature of municipal level delimitation and electoral politics is such that despite women-reservation in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), limited opportunity for the poor women to express their voices, compared to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
- Personal Challenges:
- In developing countries like India women work long hours daily, carrying out family chores such as cleaning, cooking, bringing up children along with concentrating on their income generating activities.
- Such family responsibilities prevent them from becoming successful entrepreneurs. ex: a choice between family and career.
- Social Challenges:
- The biggest problem of a woman entrepreneur is the social attitude and the constraints in which she has to live and work.
- Despite constitutional equality, there is discrimination against women. In a tradition-bound society, women suffer from male reservations about a woman‘s role and capacity.
- In rural areas, women face resistance not only from males but also from elderly females who have accepted inequality.
- Financial Challenges:
- When it comes to financing, women in developing nations have little access to finance because they are concentrated in poor rural communities with few opportunities to borrow money.
- Lack of access to credit is still worsened by a lack of information on where credit can be sought and requirements for loans.
- According to a report by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), despite evidence that women‘s loan repayment rates are higher than men‘s, women still face more difficulties in obtaining credit often due to the discriminatory attitudes of banks and informal lending groups.
- Women and small entrepreneurs always suffer from inadequate financial resources and working capital.
- They lack access to external funds due to the absence of tangible security and credit in the market.
- Women also generally do not have property in their names.
- Marketing Challenges:
- Because of inefficient arrangements for marketing and selling their products, women entrepreneurs are often at the mercy of the intermediaries who pocket large chunks of profit.
- Managerial Challenges:
- Often high cost of production undermines efficiency and restricts the development of women enterprises.
- Competition Challenges:
- Many of the women enterprises have imperfect organizational setup. They have to face severe competition from organized industries and male-centric entrepreneurship.
- Lack of Mobility Challenges:
- One of the biggest handicaps for women entrepreneurs is mobility or traveling from place to place.
- Women on their own also often find it difficult to get accommodation in smaller towns.
- Educational Challenges:
- In India, literacy among women is very low.
- Due to lack of education, the majority of women are unaware of technological developments, marketing knowledge, etc.
- Lack of information and experience creates further problems in the setting up and running of business enterprises.
- Shortage of Raw Materials:
- Women entrepreneurs find it difficult to procure raw materials and other necessary inputs.
- The failure of many women cooperatives in 1971 such as those engaged in basket making was mainly due to the inadequate availability of forest-raw materials.
- The prices of many raw materials are in any case quite high.
- Low Ability to Bear Risk:
- Women have comparatively a low ability to bear economic and other risks because they have led a protected life.
- Low Need for Achievement:
- Need for achievement, independence, and autonomy are the prerequisites for success in entrepreneurship.
- However, women are often found (and limited) to be only proud of the achievements of their parents, husbands, sons, etc.
- Other Challenges:
- In addition to the above problems, inadequate infrastructure, shortage of power and technical expertise and other economic and social constraints have retarded the growth of women entrepreneurship in India.
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: To enhance livelihood security in rural areas by giving 100 days of wage employment to every household there.
- Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana – 2017: It is a maternity benefit. The first time pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above can apply for this conditional cash transfer scheme.
- Janani Suraksha Yojana – 2005: It is a safe motherhood scheme under the National Health Mission. It aims to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by supporting institutional delivery for poor pregnant women. The main focus is on the Low Performing States.
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: Distribute LPG connections to women of Below Poverty Line families. 22 million LPG connections were distributed against the target of 15 million. The number crossed 58 million in 2018.
- National Literacy Mission Program: It is an Indian government program to create a literate society. This scheme has four elements – Sakshar Bharat, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha, and teacher training programs.
- Sukanya Samridhi Yojana: It is a Government of India saving scheme for the parents of girl children. This encourages parents to save funds for their female child’s future education and marriage expenses.
- Sabla: It is the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls begun in 2011. The idea is to encourage self-development and empowerment of adolescent girls. They also want to improve their nutrition and health and promote awareness around their changing body.
There is a need for universalising, deepening, and extending the government schemes and SHG setups in order to help every woman come out of the ill impact from the pandemic as soon as possible. Making the right investments in women’s issues now could prove transformational in the long-term recovery and health of our economy and society.
