Given the choice would people go to work?

A paper published by the International Monetary Fund has found that participation of women in the labor force is much less in India compared to other nations and suggests that increasing the numbers of working women is key to economic growth. After a meeting with our Finance Minister the Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde said," I was also able to discuss empowerment of women and the fact the woman can be a huge contributor to the Indian economy." Ms Lagarde is an epitome of what a woman may achieve if given the opportunity. The figures are certainly dismal. About 70% of women in Maharashtra are not working compared to only 23% of men. The reasons are many. Large numbers of girls drop out of schools. A survey found that 81.6% of girls between the ages of 6 and 10 years are enrolled in government schools but by the ages of 15-16 years the number had dropped to 11.8%. 78% were enrolled in private schools. It may simply be because of a lack of clean toilets for girls in government schools. A patriarchal society forces women to bear children and then stay at home to look after them. Walking to schools maybe a problem as girls may face harassment on the way. School enrollment in Bihar jumped by 30% when 14 year old girls were provided with money to buy bicycles. The reasons could be economic. The cost of traveling to work and employing nannies to look after children could be far more than what a woman maybe able to earn. Saving on expenses increases her disposable income. That maybe the reason why men outnumber women by 60% in urban areas, where commuting is difficult and salaries are higher, compared to a gap of 45% between men and women in rural areas, where poverty is greater. But what if most women, and also men, do not want to work? The whole debate has been hijacked by feminists who blame men for keeping women chained at home. This creates enormous pressure on women to look for work when she maybe happier at home with her children. Like the pressure on women in the west to be thin is created by other women. We need studies to answer 3 questions: 1. Do men and women like to work? 2. How many people are happy in what they are doing? and 3. Would people be happier working part-time even if that meant less to spend? The CEO of Pepsico, Indra Nooyi, one of the most powerful and rich women in the world, expressed her regret at missing out on spending time with her daughters, sparking off a ferocious debate among women. Even in a developed country like Japan women are choosing to stay at home even though the birth rate is among the lowest in the world. Give them education and opportunities and let women choose. Force is bad.