Essay On Working Women

Working women in all over the world are grappling with the Herculean task of balancing their familial and organizational roles, more so in patriarchal societies like India. This often hampers their productivity and wellbeing. Sanlier and Arpaci (2007) in their study of working and non – working women have reported that working women reports higher levels of both stress symptoms as well as perceived stress. Work hours also play a role in worsening women’s stress levels (Bender et al., 2005). The average Indian worker usually has a 60-hour workweek (Assocham, 2008) as they tend to work overtime, for financial gains and to ensure job security. Women often find it difficult to keep up with such a demanding work environment. Stoner et al., (1991) have also reported

Also, it has been suggested that long working hours have a detrimental effect on health and it has been contemplated as the risk factor for hypertension (Caruso et al., 2004).
In a study conducted by Steptoe et al.(2004) on working men and women, it was found that in low occupational status groups, social reward deficiency was caused due to a mismatch between one’s efforts and rewards which triggered sustained autonomic arousal and also an increased risk of developing hypertension.
Ojha and Rani (2004) observed significant negative correlations between life stress and positive self-evaluation and between life stress and integration of personality among working and non-working women. Rastogi and Kashyap (2001) reported that significant negative relationship existed between occupational stress and mental health among married employed in teaching, nursing, and clerical jobs. The sources of stress for working and non-working women are the heavy workloads, lack of co-operation from colleagues or neighbors and negative community