A Universal Basic Allowance for all Moms

I was in mumbai recently attending the #ETwomensforum where we had industry experts, thought leaders, inspiring women share their perspectives on what it takes to make a real change to #genderequality at the work place and thereby create a sustained pool of #womenleaders who can become CXOs in the future in their respective organizations.

The next morning, while I was recollecting those thoughts and connecting it to what we do at #PinkLadder to improve #genderdiversity ratios within organizations, I chanced upon an interesting article in the #Timesofindia quoting a research from USA which said a “mom’s work is equal to two and half jobs.” This was equal to a 98-hour work week with 14 hours day shifts and no offs. This data holds good for any mom in any part of the world. This made me think, while there are organizations which are talking about bringing gender equality at the work place, having equal pay basis the role and not the gender, why then should there be no such thinking towards the CEOs of homes- the Mothers?

A mother’s role in any home is on par with that of a CEO of any organization. They are responsible for the overall wellbeing of the house, managing finances, resolving conflicts within the family, creating a positive brand image of the family in the society, taking care of health of family members, among other important tasks. Should there not be a compensation mechanism devised for this key role then? Understandably, they do this out of love for the family, but isn’t it high time they are also duly recognized and compensated for it?

There have been talks going around the concept of a #universalbasicliving to be offered to all those humans who may lose jobs to robots in the future by thought leaders like #elonmusk. This prompted me to think, why not create a #universalbasicallowance to all mothers globally? How would that work? Here’s how it can be done.

Governments across the world should fix a standard rate that a typical 4-member family would incur for the following works like house-keeping, cooking, cleaning, tutoring the kids, financial planning etc using a service provider in each of their respective countries. 50% of this amount should be paid by the male head of the family to the government and the government from their side needs to add 50% of the remaining value through taxes collected or women development funds they would have set aside for each such family. These amounts from across the world should then be pooled into a #worldbank account through which it can then be equally distributed among all the mothers globally after conducting proper due diligence of the beneficiary. 

This will go a long way in not just a mother’s role no longer being a thank less job anymore but also ensuring that the CEO of the home is duly compensated for their efforts. Such compensation received by these mothers can then be utilized by them in any personal skill development or entrepreneurial ideas they would like to explore further, thereby empowering more women in the society and moving to a more gender equal world not just at the work place but across all homes.

India under the leadership of honourable #primeminister Sri #NarendraModi can take a first step towards such an endeavor and become a role model for other countries to emulate.

Would love to hear your views!