The stereotypical caregiver: A critical examination of maternity benefits in India

Abstract

Despite the increasing participation of women in the Indian workforce, they continue to bear the primary responsibility for caregiving and domestic work. The Indian maternity benefit law aims to promote women’s participation in the workforce while ensuring the well-being of both mother and child. However, a closer examination of this seemingly progressive law reveals its underlying stereotypical assumptions. The law, particularly the key changes brought in 2017, overlooks the gendered division of labour in society and instead reinforces stereotypes about women’s caregiving roles. This article examines India’s maternity benefit law through an anti-stereotyping lens, illustrating how the transformative potential of the law is constrained by the gender stereotypes that inform both its conceptualisation as well as operationalisation. These stereotypes create systemic and institutional disadvantages for women, especially in the absence of corresponding paternity benefits. The article argues that dismantling the stereotypes underlying the maternity benefit law is essential to addressing the deep-rooted inequalities faced by women. It suggests that the recognition of shared parental responsibility for caregiving work, through the enactment of a law providing for paternity benefits, could help challenge these structures of inequality and contribute to addressing discrimination against women.