Karabi Hazarika
In this day and age, we wake up to the news of murder, rape, suicide, and what not. The erosion of moral values in our society has become a very disturbing phenomenon. Moral values, especially among the young generation, are fading fast these days.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Our moral character is dependent on our upbringing as the experiences of childhood days play a crucial role in the development of the personality of a person. A safe and conducive atmosphere promotes positive development in the growth of moral character. It is universally acknowledged that a mother can play a key role in this regard.
Therefore, working mothers who are forced to leave their children with unlicensed nannies suffer from anxiety and helplessness. A feeling of guilt impelled many working women for being incapable of taking proper care of their families.
Generally, it is believed that a working woman enjoys more freedom than a homemaker. They are independent and have no need to live at others’ expense. Economic independence is very important for a woman but balancing a job and family is a challenging affair.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Living an Indian middle-class life, people around you expect you to be social and no one can deny its importance too. A working woman is a human being as well who also wants to socialize. Moreover, she must play multiple roles of a cook, a family maid, a tutor, and a nurse as well as cater to the demands of office work. This can leave a working woman stressed and anxious if the family is not supportive.
The demands of work and family can leave little time for hobbies, passion, etc. Under stress and lack of time for self-care, a working woman becomes physically drained and fatigued.
The lack of workplace flexibility is also a major challenge for working mothers. Insufficient leave, gender bias, and mental harassment are considered major issues and challenges that working woman faces in our time. They must take up a full-day job and handle all household activities as homemakers.
It sometimes becomes extremely difficult to arrange childcare or attend to family emergencies. This can put working mothers in a difficult position, as they feel torn between their job and their family obligations. As a result, their temperaments start changing and they get irritated on simple matters. They sometimes feel isolated and due to this, they face many emotional and psychological problems.
It is also true that working mothers may be incapable of spending much time with their kids but they can become sources of inspiration for their kids as kids always imitate the nature and habits of their parents unknowingly. Therefore, to inculcate values of discipline and kindness in our children investing lots of time is out of the question for a working mother. As mothers, they must be very careful what they do and how they behave in front of their children. After all, one’s character is one’s real identity.
Working mothers face a range of challenges that can impact their ability to excel both at work and at home. To support working mothers, employers, and policymakers must take steps to address the barriers that women face in the workplace, such as discrimination, and inflexible work arrangements. By creating a more supportive environment for working mothers both at home and workplace, women must be ensured the ability to reach their full potential both in their careers and as parents.
Karabi Hazarika teaches English at Naharkatiya College. She can be reached at: [email protected]