How will you stare at your wife over the weekend when she is busy with housework and care work?

Dr Priya Kataria, Assistant Professor, HR/OB Area, K J Somaiya Institute of Management, co-authored an article titled ‘How will you stare at your wife over the weekend when she is busy with housework and care work?’ with Dr Shelley Pandey, Assistant Professor, HR/OB Area, Goa Institute of Management, in the Economic Times.

The article talks about how the recent statements by corporate leaders proposing 70 to 90 working hours per week are not just about working hours; they instead reflect the ideal worker norms at their core. The ideal worker is someone whose life revolves around their job, is always available, willing to sacrifice personal time and is free from family obligations.

Dr Kataria and Dr Pandey further explain that such statements and expectations also reinforce the fact that women, who are the major caregivers in Indian families, along with managing their professional lives, are perceived to be outside the ideal worker norms. They stress that it is essential for companies to realise that in many middle-class family households, both parents share responsibility for work and caregiving.