Maternity Benefit Bill: Well begun, (not) half-done

In the last three years, India took three giant leaps of progressive thought and action, to take a seat on the table with high-income nations of the world. Three iconic photos speak for each of these - the feats in Indian science, defence and society.

The exuberance of ISRO’s rocket women in celebration of India’s Mars Mission far out-dazzles the sheen of their lovely kanjeevarams. The poised confidence of the first batch of women fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force far outsmarts their uniforms. The compassion, wisdom and speed at which the maternity benefit amendment Bill has been recently passed by parliamentarians far out-surpasses our expectations. All three events are nothing short of being called historic for the women of India.

Happy mothers, healthy babies, progressive societies

Paid maternity leave has far-reaching ramifications not just for the careers and economic independence of women but for the health of the entire nation. The most obvious benefits of increased duration of paid leave are increased compliance to the recommended six-month of breastfeeding, lower post-birthing depression in new mothers, and higher vaccination uptake - all ensuring better infant health.

A recent study in India’s peer countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya (in the low-and-medium-income group) proved a direct correlation of paid maternity or gender-neutral parental leave with infant mortality rate.

An additional month of paid leave was associated with 10.3 fewer infant deaths per 1,000 live births. If implemented well, the same study claims the benefit could realise a reduction of up to 13 per cent in infant mortality - much needed for India.

There also exists a strong association of the duration of maternity leave with “baby blues” or post-natal depression of new mothers. It is one of those multiple health problems faced by women soon after giving birth, the world over. The recorded prevalence of new mothers plummeting into clinical depression ranges between 11-15 per cent in high-income nations such as the US and UK, and goes as high as 40 per cent in low-and-middle income countries such as Pakistan.

Based on sporadic documentary evidence, it can be assumed that India won’t be too far behind Pakistan on this statistic. After all, acknowledging and speaking openly about one’s depression is a societal taboo. Blaming one’s newborn’s arrival for her blues will tantamount to a cardinal sin.

An event marked by celebratory colours of peachy creams and rosy pinks can most certainly not be dabbed in spots of depressive blue - the society forbids it. Or, maybe not, in India’s diverse socio-cultural context. It will be selectively accepted by many families; blue will bleed into black for the mother if the baby is a girl.

A study conducted in Goa in 2002 recorded post-natal depression in 23 per cent of new mothers, stating consequent economic deprivation as one of the main reasons. A more recent one, conducted last year within a community of South Indian rural women, found 31.4 per cent new mothers experiencing depression, especially working women. Poverty, birth of a girl-child, and pressures of living in a joint family added to the intensity of their depressive state.

The newly legislated 26-week paid maternity leave could have become one of the strongest building blocks of maternal and infant health for India had the employment statistics allowed it.

No peace for the wicked, no rest for the women

The maternity leave policy will need several decades, and at least one revolution of job-creation - of the size and momentum of the Indian high-tech and software revolution of the nineties - to be called worthy of bearing a widespread effect.

The number, 26 (weeks), has pulled up India’s position close to the Scandinavian block, and much ahead of many other wealthy and highly productive societies enjoying paid parental benefits for their women. Many of these also encourage fathers to participate equally in child rearing with different provisions, such as paid paternity leave and paid parental leave that can be split between the mother and the father depending on their work arrangements.

In parallel, the same number, 26 (per cent), clubs India with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and a few others. 26 per cent denotes the embarrassingly low rate of women’s participation in India’s workforce. Included in this statistic are 2.8 crore urban women and 12.2 crore rural women, who are into some form of paid employment. The average rate of women’s workforce participation for India’s economic peer group of low-medium-income countries is pegged at 39 per cent.

Today, there aren’t enough beneficiaries eligible to avail maternity leave. Its existence and extension will make no difference to the lives of 90 per cent of working women in India. It applies to the 1.6 crore women falling in the salaried employment bracket. Just that. Even less, as the group will squeeze further to exclude women above the reproductive age of 45 years, and those working with organisations with employee headcount of less than ten.

India has a lot to catch-up on - job creation for her young people, and in having her women to participate equally in its workforce. There is a strong relationship between job-protected maternity leave and women’s employment outcomes for a country. 48 per cent women in India leave their jobs mid-career to look after their family. Fully-paid maternity leave will increase the willingness of mothers in returning to the work force. Will the employers be willing too?

Chances of success are bleak unless...

The Bill proposes a 100 per cent employer-funded model. As intended, it will bring relief to the working women. Selectively. It has already been a boon to the lives of 31 lakh women serving in permanent positions in the public sector of India, who have had this privilege for a few years.

For private organisations, it will double the operating cost of positions held by women staff in the child-bearing age. That too, at lower productivity for the six months in the year they go on leave. Large-sized private employers will be willing, and financially be able to bear it. Those with small and medium-sized operations will find substitutes to fill positions with equally capable and skilled men, or women outside of their child-bearing phase of life. Many will be reluctant to hire young women as a covert organisational policy, unless they bring a unique and hard-to-find skill to the table.

The success of the maternity amendment Bill is bleak unless a public-funding provision is carved out to share costs partly with private employers. In countries such as Australia, France and Canada, maternity leave is fully funded by the government or social insurance schemes. Brazil, Singapore, China and the UK follow a shared-funding model with contributions from the government, employers and, the woman herself by accepting reduced pay for a certain duration of leave.

For example, Switzerland and Belgium offer maternity leave at 80 per cent salary; Japan and Germany offer 67 per cent. In addition, fully-paid paternity or parental leave schemes must be instituted in parallel to distribute the stress and competitive pressure at the workplace evenly among men and women, encouraging women not to abort their careers due to motherhood.

What about the women working in micro-enterprises of less than ten people, and in the informal sectors of our economy as self-employed or as casual labour? The casual labour sector with its 3.7 million working women would also be the one with the highest maternal and infant mortality rate. The status quo will prevail for them unless the government rolls out a social insurance scheme paired with the Pregnancy Aid Scheme to bring economic relief for six months to a year after childbirth.

Pure intention and burning necessity are the starting points of framing a social policy. With the recent amendment of the maternity Bill, that first step is already taken. For its success in the real world, it needs pragmatic champions of gender equality to support women in joining and remaining in the workforce, and supporting policies in the form of legalised paternity or parental leave along with a social insurance scheme for women to ease burden on employers.

All that, and more jobs for the nation that men and women can equally compete for.

Also read: What the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill means for mothers