Why Financial Independence is Important for Women

“Whoever holds the purse, holds the power” is something we hear often when it comes to deciding who gets the final say in family matters. In most Indian families, barring a few, the men of the house, the husbands, fathers, grandfathers are the ones making most of the decisions. These are also the people who earn money in the house. The wives, mothers and grandmothers are also equally skilled and competent, if not more. But many times, they are relegated to house chores, not out of their own will, but out of social obligations and norms. While the situation is slowly changing, many households in small towns and rural parts of the country have the same story.

Financial independence is important for every human per se, but in the context of India, it is more important for women currently because their talents often go unused. Additionally, since they do not have any financial security, a lot of women often have to stay in abusive households because they have nowhere else to go. They have to put up with a lot of atrocities because of their financial instability. Towards the end of the last century, with changes in microfinance and women empowerment in India, there have been several organizations that have implemented programmes to empower women to become financially independent. Government initiatives that facilitate women’s education have also helped.

Financial independence is just the by-product but there’s an entire process that must take place to ensure that. As a country and as a society, it is important to support women’s empowerment. Here are a bunch of ways in which it can be done:

1. Education is the first and foremost step to empowering women. Women should have access to not just primary education but also higher education so that they can access higher-paying jobs as per their capabilities.
2. Employment opportunities and equal pay are very crucial to women’s financial independence. A lot of times, women lose out on jobs despite being qualified, only because of their gender. In situations where they do get employed, on several occasions, women earn less than their male counterparts working in the same posts. It’s important to give women equal opportunity and equal pay.
3. Maternity leave and menstrual leave- It is extremely important to give women sufficient maternity leave and period leaves because they need those in order to balance their health and their professional life. Organizations must understand that male and female employees have different needs and must be fair while deciding their employee policies.

Finally, it is very important for us as a society to stress the importance of financial independence for women. Men are traditionally taught to go out and earn, but women are taught to cook and clean well in most homes in India. Why the difference? Earning to ensure that your basic needs are met is something that every human being must be taught, irrespective of gender. Economic security is very important because when women don’t have that and have to depend on others for their security, they are at the risk of being exploited. It is a vicious cycle, one that can only be ended when we as a society promote the idea of financial independence for women, and in a larger sense, for every human being.

Women need to be financially independent and helping them achieve that is the least we can do!