WUEGA (Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act)

Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA): Bridging the Urban Employment Gender Gap

In recent years, India has made significant attempts to promote gender equality and empower women across various spheres.

However, the challenge of ensuring equitable employment opportunities for women, particularly in urban areas, remains a pressing concern.

To address this issue, a proposal for the Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) has been gaining traction, aiming to bridge the gap in employment opportunities between men and women in cities.

The Rationale Behind Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act

The Rationale behind the WUEGA is:

Gender Disparities in Urban Employment

• Urban areas often witness stark gender-based disparities in employment opportunities.
• According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), only 22.9% of urban women were employed in the last quarter of 2023, highlighting the urgent need for targeted interventions.
• This low figure indicates a significant unmet demand for employment opportunities among urban women.
• Unemployment rates in urban areas, which measure the proportion of individuals actively seeking or willing to take up employment, are higher at 9% compared to 4% in rural areas.
• Among the unemployed, a larger share of urban women are actively seeking employment opportunities compared to their rural counterparts.

Untapped Potential

• An estimated 10.18 crore women in urban areas, aged between 15 and 59, are currently out of the workforce, representing a vast untapped potential that could contribute significantly to economic growth and development.
• Urban areas have a higher proportion of women (nearly 25%) who have completed higher secondary education, in contrast to only 5% in rural areas.
• The low employment rates for urban women, despite their higher educational attainment, suggest a waste of potential and untapped human resources.

Limitations of Existing Schemes

• While urban employment schemes exist, they do not adequately address the specific challenges faced by women, such as childcare responsibilities, safety concerns, and social norms that discourage their participation in the workforce.

The Core Objectives of the Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act

The objectives of WUEGA are:

• Empowering Urban Women: WUEGA aims to empower urban women by providing them with guaranteed employment opportunities, enabling them to contribute to their households and communities while achieving economic independence.
• Promoting Gender Equality: By ensuring access to employment, WUEGA seeks to promote gender equality and address the disparities that exist in urban labor markets, aligning with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.
• Addressing Childcare and Infrastructure Needs: A key focus of WUEGA is to create supportive infrastructure, such as childcare facilities at worksites, enabling women to participate in employment without compromising their caregiving responsibilities.
• Skill Development: WUEGA proposes incorporating training programs to bridge any skill gaps between available jobs and the qualifications of women in the applicant pool, enhancing their employability and career prospects.

Key Features of the Proposed WUEGA

Key features of the proposed Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) are:

• Guaranteed Employment: The act proposes guaranteeing urban women a minimum number of workdays per year, such as 150 days, ensuring a stable source of income.
• Local Work Opportunities: WUEGA emphasizes creating work opportunities within a reasonable distance, such as 5 km, from a woman’s residence, addressing mobility concerns and reducing commute time.
• Women-Led Management: The proposal suggests that women should form a significant percentage, ideally 100%, of the program management staff under WUEGA, ensuring leadership and decision-making roles for women.
• Supportive Measures: Incentives such as automatic inclusion in welfare boards could be created to provide maternity entitlements, pensions, and access to emergency funds, fostering a supportive ecosystem for working women.

Potential Challenges and Considerations

Challenges related to the WUEGA are:

• Financial Burden: Implementing WUEGA would require significant financial resources, with the wage component alone estimated to cost around 1.5% of GDP, assuming 150 days of work per year at ₹500 as daily wages. Adding material and administrative costs could increase the total cost to around 2% of GDP.
• Job Creation in Localities: Creating diverse work opportunities within a reasonable distance (e.g., 5 km radius) from women’s residences, especially in densely populated urban areas, could be challenging and may require careful planning and consideration of local needs and infrastructure.
• Safety Concerns: Social norms, lack of safety, and hostile transportation options are identified as factors inhibiting urban women from entering the workforce. Addressing safety concerns during commutes and at worksites would be crucial.
• Skill Gaps: A recent study found that three out of five women in Delhi and Bengaluru reported not having adequate skills as a constraint to getting secure employment. Bridging skill gaps and providing necessary training would be essential for the success of WUEGA.
• Capacity Building: Ensuring at least 50% (ideally 100%) of the program management staff are women may be challenging initially, necessitating focused capacity-building initiatives.
• Social Norms and Gender Stereotypes: Deep-rooted societal norms and gender stereotypes could pose resistance to women’s increased participation in the urban workforce, requiring efforts to change attitudes and promote gender equality.

The Way Forward for Effective Enactment of WUEGA

To ensure the successful implementation of WUEGA, a comprehensive approach is necessary:

• Collecting Gender-Disaggregated Data: Gathering gender-specific data on employment trends, job preferences, education levels, and other relevant factors will provide valuable insights for policymakers and inform the design of WUEGA.
• Addressing Safety Concerns: Measures to enhance the safety and security of women in public spaces, including adequate lighting, surveillance systems, and increased police patrolling, should be implemented to mitigate safety concerns and encourage greater workforce participation.
• Supporting Women Entrepreneurs: Providing support and incentives for women entrepreneurs, such as access to financial resources, mentorship programs, and networking opportunities, can create alternative avenues for employment and economic empowerment.
• Partnerships and Collaboration: Forging partnerships with civil society organizations, community groups, private sector stakeholders, and international agencies can leverage their expertise, resources, and networks for the successful implementation of WUEGA.
• Designing with a Gender Lens: WUEGA should be drafted as a comprehensive legislation, delineating the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of both the government and recipients, grounded in gender-disaggregated data and ensuring equal pay for equal work.
• Allocating Resources and Building Capacity: Adequate financial resources must be allocated for wages, infrastructure, and capacity-building initiatives, including training programs for government officials, program administrators, and beneficiaries.
• Phased Implementation: A phased approach, starting with pilot programs in select urban areas and gradually expanding, can help test the feasibility of WUEGA, identify challenges, and refine the implementation strategy.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: Robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms should be established to track implementation progress, assess program effectiveness, and identify areas for improvement, with a focus on outcomes such as employment generation, income enhancement, and skill development.
• Raising Awareness and Changing Attitudes: Conducting awareness campaigns and sensitization programs is crucial to challenge gender stereotypes, promote gender equality, and change societal attitudes toward women’s roles and capabilities in the workforce.

Conclusion

The proposed Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) has the potential to be a game-changer in addressing the gender disparities in urban employment opportunities in India.

By providing guaranteed employment, supportive infrastructure, and skill development initiatives, WUEGA can empower urban women, promote gender equality, and contribute to economic growth and development.

However, the successful implementation of WUEGA will require a multi-faceted approach, including adequate resource allocation, capacity building, addressing safety concerns, and challenging deep-rooted social norms and gender stereotypes.

It will also necessitate collaboration among various stakeholders, including government agencies, civil society organizations, and the private sector.

Ultimately, WUEGA aligns with the constitutional principles of equality and social justice, and its enactment can be a significant step toward fulfilling India’s ethical and legal obligations to promote gender equality and empowerment.

By harnessing the untapped potential of urban women, WUEGA can pave the way for a more inclusive and equitable society, where economic opportunities are accessible to all, regardless of gender.

Article Written By: Priti Raj