12/07/2024
The highest court of the land is given a landmark judgement for financial security of over 165 million homemakers.
Emphasising the rights of a homemaker, the court said married men will have to financially empower their women, who are financially dependent by practical measures such as Joint Bank Accounts & Shared ATM Access .
Giving access to financial resources is needed to provide for their personal needs. These are cited as necessary underlining the key role of homemakers in the family and to ensure economic stability for women within the household.
Justice Nagarathna observed in her judgement that it is commonplace that married women sacrifice employment opportunities to nurture the family, pursue child rearing, and undertake care work for the elderly.
The Supreme Court of India has stated that homemakers work throughout the day for the welfare of the family without expecting anything in return.
Citing Section 125 broadly, the judgement said a person with sufficient means cannot deny maintenance to their wife, children or parents.
"This right transcends religious boundaries, reinforcing the principle of gender equality and financial security for all married women," it said.
Muslim women can demand maintenance from their husbands even if they are divorced.
This is a much desired and long-awaited judgement underlining the rights of the homemakers so clearly for financial security.
165 million homemakers in India are not paid for the services, they do it out of their duty. They spend 243 minutes, a little over 4 hours on unpaid domestic services, which is almost ten times more than men. ( Source NSO Time Use Data, 2019)
